Finding Home
by LaurenHardy13
Summary: Human AU: Leo, Raph, Don, and Mikey, have been living in foster care for as long as they can remember, waiting for a family who won't split them up. A man named Oroku Saki promises this but has to adopt only Leo first to make some 'arrangments'. Leo agrees but causes the brothers to be split up even further than they ever wanted. Will the brothers find their true home? Find out!
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to my first try at a TMNT story. This will be a human AU where the ages are, Leo: 15, Raph: 14, Donnie: 13, Mikey: 12. I hope you enjoy!**

_Donatello _

3…2…1…midnight; the start of another day. Most people will tell you that a new day is a fresh start at life learning from the mistakes made the previous day. I disagree. Don't get me wrong, a new day is still a fresh start either way, but it's another day of worry for me and my brothers. It sucks, but that's what happens when you've been living in a foster home for all of your life. If you're lucky, you can get someone to take you home eventually after a few years, but adopting four boys is nearly impossible. I've been trying to go to sleep for two hours now but what my older brother Leo said keeps replaying in my mind nonstop like a broken record. I'm not sure if it's because Raph and Leo started arguing about it or if it's because this is an argument that I have to take sides on. I really hate this! I lay on my back looking up at the same ceiling I'd look at for the last thirteen years of my life.

"H-hey um…..Raph?" I somewhat whispered to my older brother who sleeping on the bunk under mine. I didn't hear anything except his snores from below.

"Raph? Are you awake?" I asked a little louder.

"I am now," I heard him mumble groggily from the bottom bunk. "What do you want?" he snaps at me.

"Oh…um…" I stutter as a cold shiver makes its way down my back. I knew should have thought this through more.

"Spit it out already!" he nearly shouts and I shivered at his harsh tone.

'Chose your next words _very _carefully Donnie.' I thought before I spoke up. "So…I was just doing some thinking," I began.

"You woke me up just to tell me that?! You're always thinking! So what?!" he continued to nearly shout and I heard him slam his pillow over his head.

"I was thinking about what Leo said okay?!" I nearly shouted back at him. I hesitated again before I told him my opinion. "And…..I think he's right." I saw from the corner of my eye Raph throw his pillow hard on the floor.

"Aw no, not you too Donnie! Look, either all of us are getting adopted or none of us are! That's our rule!" he told me.

"I know Raph, but the odds of us finding a home together are 0.0000000…." I started but he interrupted me.

"Yeah yeah, I don't need the stats brainiac," he said and I heard the bottom bed creak and saw Raph climb up the latter giving me this look I'd seen when Brendan was bullying me. "You better listen good kid! We stick together; period! I don't care what fearless is saying and neither should you!" He said through clenched teeth.

"But he's got a point, doesn't he? Shouldn't we try to focus more on getting out of here instead of…?" I ask sitting up on the bed and was interrupted again.

"No! We can leave this stupid foster home any time we want to. What's really important is making sure we're all together," he told me for the hundredth time.

"Oh really? How come when we talked about running away, you told Leo that he could stay here for all you cared?" I asked him knowing I was treading on fire right now.

"T-that was different! Screw Leo! Isn't finding a family _together_ what you told Mikey you wanted just as much as _he _did?" he said. I looked down and bit my lip surprised that Raph didn't make fun of the gap in my teeth again. I _did_ tell Mikey that, but it was also after another failed Adoption Day. I spoke up to him after a full minute of thinking.

"I want it too. But…"

"But nothin'! Don't you dare think about that again! Ya hear me?!" he said.

"Yeah, I hear you," I said nodding my head.

"Good. Now quit talking so much and go to sleep already!" he said and jumped down to the floor crashing on his mattress. Great, now it's back to square one in all this.

**Flashback **

"_Guys, I think we should stop trying so hard to stick together and focus more on getting out of here; even if it means…that we're put in separate homes," Leo said. _

"_What the heck are you saying, Leo?! You're the one who's always saying that we need to stick together!" Raph shouted._

"_I know but…it's pretty obvious that no one's going to adopt all four of us. If we want to get out of here and have a home, then maybe we shouldn't be so picky," Leo continued. _

"_How the hell is wanting to stay together with our brothers being picky?!" Raph shrieked. _

"_But…I thought a family doesn't ever go away from each other," Mikey whimpered. "We can't be a family if we don't live together." _

"_Yeah, but you'll get to have a new Mama and Papa Mikey. _They_ can be your family and you'll know what having a home means. That's what you want right?" Leo asked. Mikey's eyes were getting glassy after that._

"_Don't listen to him, Mikey. Leo's just being a complete dunce right now," Raph said shooting daggers into Leo's eyes and started to guide Mikey away from us. _

"_Don't you want to get out of here Raph?" Leo asked while Raph and Mikey had their back turned. Raph suddenly turned around and got in Leo's face._

"_Is that all you care about fearless?! Getting out of here even if it means leaving behind your own flesh and blood?! Fine!" Raph said pushing Leo away from him. "Leave for all I care!" he shouted and guided Mikey out of the room leaving my mouth slightly open._

_**End of Flashback**_

**Break*Break*Break**

Raph's POV

Great. I hear Donnie crying above me. I really hope it's not because of what I said. He and Mikey shouldn't have to worry about all this staying together crap that Leo and I always talk about. Who does he think he is telling our little brothers that we shouldn't be together anyway?! Man, when I see Fearless tomorrow, he better have a death wish.

**The Next Morning **

After breakfast, I tried to duck out of the dining room before…'

"Raphael, you better not be skipping on your chores again," a woman said behind me. _Dang it! _I turned around to face our foster caretaker Ms. Adams.

"I wasn't. I just needed to chat with my dear older brother first," I said but she just crossed her arms looking at me with a raised eyebrow.

"I trust your little 'chat' will involve all four of you making up," she said.

"I don't know what you're talkin' about," I said but she still remained in her position. _Ugh!_ How is she so good at seeing right through us?

"The four of you have hardly said a word to each other since lunch yesterday. I have to admit, I missed Michelangelo talking up a storm with his mouth full," she said relaxing her face and putting her arms down. "But he _did _tell me what Leonardo…suggested."

"He makes me so sick sometimes! He's always gotta be acting like _he's _the perfect one, but _this_ just crossed the line," I said unconsciously clenching together my fists. "After every rejection, we've been through and everything _you've _done to try and keep us together, he just up and wants to throw that all away now!" I said with my voice volume increasing.

"I will admit that it was a shock for me too. Did you ever think about asking Leo what made him change his mind? That may clear up some tension between the two of you," she suggested.

"Y-yeah….but…..it won't make a difference!" I stutter out rolling my eyes.

"I'll stay out of this as much as I can but I hope you boys make up before you do something rash," she said.

"Yeah, you should've told Fearless that," I snapped and just walked away from her.

"Five minutes Raphael and you better be down here doing the dishes!" I heard her say before I left the apartment slamming the front door. I trudged up the apartment building steps releasing the steam from my nose. When I got up to the roof, I shoved the door violently open and was about to yell out when I saw Mikey lying on his stomach gluing a cut-out picture of a man with brown hair, a woman with shoulder-length brown hair, and a brown lab into his red sketchbook that he had. The roof was a good size area with two benches scattered on the sides and some flowers growing in large pots or in baskets on the edge.

"There!" Mikey said to himself and grabbed one of his pencils and started to sketch on the other side. I rolled my eyes and walked over to him.

"You're still drawing in that stupid book?" I asked him. He turned to me with a scowl.

"It's not stupid Raph!" he told me.

"All you do is draw random people or glue pictures from magazines of random people. It's a little creepy," I said.

"I'm trying to figure out what a family is," he said and rolled my eyes again.

"You already know what a family is you ding dong. _We're _your family," I said.

"I know, but it's not finished yet. We need a mom and dad too. Ms. Adam is really nice, but it's not the same. If we get a mom and dad…"

"_When _Mikey, not if," I told him.

"Yeah…when. I just really wanna know what it's like Raph. Everyone at school says it's great and we wouldn't have to wake up every day wondering if we'll get split up today or not. Just think! Waking up every morning to a mom and dad who won't ever think of leaving us, and Leo won't talk about leaving us either," Mikey said with his head tilted down.

"Yeah…keep dreaming little brother," I mumbled looking down at him.

"I'll show you Raph! I'll show you it's not just a stupid dream!" Mikey shouted glaring at me.

"No Mikey, I really mean it. Keep dreaming," I said.

"Huh?" he said looking at me funny. Then I turned around making sure no one was spying on us. I've got a reputation to keep up with the other kids and my brothers after all.

"Look, if you tell the others I told you this, I'll beat the skin off you and throw your dumb bear into the river," I said hesitating before speaking to him again. "Just…don't stop dreaming about what it'll be like having a mom and dad okay? Draw in your stupid book or whatever you have to do but don't give up on this Mike; ever! I promise, I'll get you out of here and we'll find someone who'll adopt all four of us together."

"Really?!" Mikey said with his eyes wide.

"Yeah," I muttered and he gave me one of his world famous smiles.

"Maybe they'll have a pet cat that's made out of ice cream! Or maybe the dad is a superhero in the Justice Force!" Mikey said and grabbed his pencil and started to draw his newest version of our '_family'_. All I could do is lift my arms up and slam them against my side. I walked back towards the door that leads back to the apartment.

'_Don't you worry little brother. I'll find us a home; one way or another,'_ I thought and headed back downstairs.

**Well? What do you guys think so far? Next chapter will feature Leo and Raph doing what they do best. I hope everyone enjoyed so far and I'll see you next time. **

**LaurenHardy13**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm glad this was a hit with some people and I'll continue it for you. Thanks to all who reviewed and gave this story a chance. **

**Leonardo**

I was outside trying to clear my head with the ninjutsu book I borrowed from the library practicing some of the katas I was learning about. It's been really quiet between the four of us and I know exactly the reason why; it's because of what I said. But I don't know what else to do. I'm supposed to be the one who has all the answers to Don and Mikey's never-ending questions, but the one about us getting adopted is one I can't answer.

'Stop thinking about it already and focus!'

Okay Leo, deep breath, and get into position.

…inhale…

…exhale…

All of a sudden, I felt someone push me from behind and I fell to the ground with a loud gasp. I turned around to see Raph standing above me. "Some ninja _you _are Leo," he said to me. _Great._

"What do you want Raph?" I said getting up while rolling my eyes.

"Came to make sure your head was screwed back on Fearless. Or are you still thinkin' about ditchin' us?" Raph said in a deep voice. I let out a groan and looked up at the sky before facing him again.

"Not this again. I told you…" I started but Raph interrupted with a bitter tone.

"You _told_ me that we stick together no matter what and that we have to take care of our little brothers! That's what you've drilled in my head every single day since we were kids! Now you wanna just say 'screw it' and focus more on having two more people in our family. Oh, but since you're the great Leonardo, you have to have this perfect little family who praises your every move. But you can't have your brothers in the picture with you or we might mess it all up for ya. So all that time you spent lecturing me was just because you felt like it?!" Raph asked me as I struggled to keep my composure.

"Do you seriously think I want to be separated from you and the others?! What other choice do we have?! How many times do we have to see Mikey cry because someone didn't want us?" I growled back.

"Mikey needs to grow up and learn life isn't all rainbows and butterflies! But that doesn't mean you tell him we shouldn't have a home together! You know how he and Donnie feel about that Leo!" Raph yelled.

"If you give me a chance to explain then maybe…!" I said clenching my fists together.

"No! I've about had it with you and your smug attitude!"

"YOU'RE NOT LISTENING TO ME HOTHEAD!" I screamed at him while getting into a fighting stance.

"That is IT!" he shouted and lunged at me. The two of us started to wrestle with each other rolling around on the ground. Raph had me pinned to the ground with our hands locked together before I spoke up.

"Since when did you start caring so much about our family Raph? Why did you stay all those times you threatened to run away!?" I asked him.

"Shut up!" he yelled at me but I managed to get the upper hand, rolling back around and pinning his left arm behind him.

"Maybe if you'd stop and use that thing you call a brain, you'd understand why we have to do this," I said.

"Oh, I understand plenty. _You're _too much of a coward to take action! Instead, you just wanna wait around for years and years until someone decides to adopt all four of us while filling Mikey's head with hope; only to crush it from beneath him! Well, hope ain't gonna get us out of here _together_. I'm done waiting around!" Raph screamed and used his muscles and weight to his advantage knocking off my grip and tried to punch my face multiple times. Thanks to my self-defense classes and learning from the ninjutsu books, I blocked most of his punches.

"RAPHAEL! LEONARDO! ENOUGH!" I heard a voice but I paid it no mind as I kicked Raph off of me before holding him in a chokehold.

"LEONARDO!" I heard the angry voice and looked up to see Ms. Adams with a red face trying to pry my arms off of Raph. I released my grip and somewhat tossed him to the ground. Ms. Adams then pushed Raph away from me and stepped in between the two of us before Raph could launch at me again.

"WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU TWO?!" she yelled. 

"You've completely lost it Fearless! You know that?!" Raph continued to shout.

"Raphael, enough already. Go! Before I make you do all of everyone's chores for the next three months," she said still pushing Raph back. Raph face was now all red and I could see his knuckles were now as white as snowflakes. He shoved Ms. Adams's arms off of him and gave a loud howl before storming off down the street. Ms. Adams called for Raph to come back, I closed my eyes and practiced my deep breathing.

"Leonardo…" she started to say but I interrupted.

"He'll come back. You still have his pocket knife in your office," I said opening my eyes and looking at her.

"That's not what I was going to say. You need to work this out with the others," she said.

"Why don't they understand that I don't want to do this either? I just want to make sure they have a chance to know what a home is," Leo said.

"Leo, you can think what you want but this is your home too; at least for right now," she said.

"I know I know. Home is where we're all together, but good luck telling that to Mikey. That book of his means everything to him," I said.

"I'll support whatever decision you all make but not until I get an approval from _all _of you," she told me.

"Yes ma'am," I said.

**An hour later**

Raph still didn't come back yet as I lay on the window-sill leaning my head against the window staring outside and at my reflection. I heard someone trough up the stair and walk to where I was but didn't head them any mind.

"Leonardo, I know this might not be the best of times, but there's a man here to see you," Ms. Adams told me. I just keep looking out the window at the city. "He said that he might be interested in adopting you and maybe even your brothers," she said and my eyes went wide as I spun around.

"Who?!" I demanded.

"His name is Oroku Saki. He's a well-educated man hailing from Japan and if you're interested, mentioned that he runs a dojo that teaches Ninjutsu," she said showing a snarky smile and I let out a huge one right back at her.

"Are you serious?! All four of us?!" I asked trying to get more words out, but I was struggling to take a full breath from what I was hearing.

"That's one of the setbacks though. He's willing to take in all four of you, but he has to adopt only you first. He's downstairs in the meeting room right now filling out some paperwork if you want to talk to him more about it," she said. I pushed my lips into my mouth and looked back at my reflection in the window.

"I…I guess I can talk to him," I said after a minute.

"Are you sure? You don't seem like you want to," she said seeing right through me.

"No, I….I mean I have to take this chance; for them," I said taking a large breath.

"Nothing's set in stone yet so if you don't like what you hear, then you can just say no," Ms. Adams said.

"I know. Thank you, Ms. Adams," I said and she and I walked together downstairs to the living room. Sitting on the couch was a Japanese man with thick, black hair and green eyes. He wore a black suit with a red type and a bright smile as he stood up.

"Ah! This must be Leonardo. I am Oroku Saki," he said bowing his head for a second before holding out a hand for me to shake which I did.

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Saki," I said.

"Well, I've reviewed your background and references Mr. Saki and everything checks out good there. I just have to go make some copies of your records sir and I'll be back momentarily. In the meantime you two can talk a little," she said.

"Very well," Mr. Saki said. "As long as that is alright with you Leonardo," he said looking back at me and I just gave a quick nod.

"Perfect, I'll be right back," she said winking at me and left the room to make the copies back in the office near the front door.

"Come sit," Mr. Saki said motioning the seat next to him and with goose bumps appearing all over my arms, I went over and sat next to him on the couch. "Now then, Ms. Adams tells me that you are a smart young man and show a keen interest in the ancient art of ninjutsu, is that correct?" Mr. Saki said to me.

"Y-yes sir," I said.

"I see. As a matter of fact, I have mastered the ancient art myself and would be honored to take you in as my student if the process goes through smoothly," he said and I swallowed a lump in my throat.

"The honor would be all mine Mr. Saki, but…I don't know if you should take me. You see, I have three little brothers that live here with me as well," I told him.

"Yes, Ms. Adams briefly mentioned them to me before. Unfortunately, as I told her, I am unable to take all three of them in right now. You must realize that I did not come here to take in four boys," he said and my heart sunk.

"I understand Mr. Saki," I said trying to focus my attention on something other than him.

"But, that does not mean I am not interested. I will be willing to adopt all four of you but I must require time to prepare the…formalities. I have a daughter of my own you see and having you there as a start might help speed up the procession," he told me. Now he had my attention back at its fullest.

"I'd do anything, Mr. Saki," I said.

"Excellent. Now, why don't you tell me a little about yourself? I prefer to know everything about my future pupils." He said and before I knew it, I was spilling my gut about everything; from school, to ninjutsu, and even about my brothers. It just felt so easy to talk to him and he listened with interest; almost like a real father. Then for the first time, I realized why Mikey wanted a mother and father so much. This was finally going to be the parent that my brothers and I had been dreaming of for years. Yes, we'll still be separated for a little while, but I just pictured in my head how good it would feel when all of us were together again adopted by someone at last. I couldn't wait for that day to come at last.

**And we will stop right there. Sounds like Leo and the others finally have a family of their own. ****What could possibly go wrong? ****Yes, I did go there. ** **Next chapter we will find out how the others react to the news. Hope you enjoyed. **

**Don't forget to review!**

**LaurenHardy13**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Don't own TMNT if you didn't already guess. **

**Leonardo**

I don't know how, but after Ms. Adams came back, Mr. Saki and I continued to talk for another half-hour. We kept asking each other questions and he asked me about my interest in ninjutsu, what my teachers thought of me, and how hard I would be willing to work as his student.

"As much as I would be honored to continue talking with you dear boy, I'm afraid I must be off in order to get things ready for your arrival including talking with your social worker," Mr. Saki explained.

"Yes. Leonardo's social worker, Kevin Eastman will look at your paperwork and give you a call sometime later today or this evening to discuss some details regarding state check-ups and visits. You'll still be considered a foster parent until a court hearing can be set up for the full adoption by an appointed judge in the state of New York. Since this isn't a full adoption just yet and we've already completed a home inspection, you'll be free to take Leo tomorrow afternoon. Then whenever you're ready, you can come back to take the rest of the boys," she explained to me and Mr. Saki.

** "**Excellent," he said with a thin smile.

"Just be warned that the rest of the boys can be adopted at any time and we are required to do what's best for each child; even if that means placing them each in separate homes," Ms. Adams warned glaring at me and Mr. Saki.

"I understand. Until tomorrow Leonardo-san," Mr. Saki said bowing one more time to me and I bowed at him as well. As soon as he left, I let out the biggest grin I could muster and gave Ms. Adams a hug.

"This is finally it! I can't believe it!" I cheered.

"Now Leonardo, you also have to tell some _other _people what's going to happen. Raphael still hasn't come back yet and I'd rather him not break anything again," she said.

"Right," I said. "I'll….I'll take them upstairs when I tell them. I know Raph's not going to take this well though. He's already mad at me."

**Break*Break*Break**

I knew Raph would come back, but I didn't know when exactly. Turns out he didn't come back until around four. After I knew he would be as cooled off as he would be for the rest of the night, I called a family meeting upstairs and had to almost literately drag everyone up there.

"Can this be quick Leo? I have to get back to my robot I'm building," Donnie said.

"Yeah, and I wanna finish reading issue 49 of the Justice Force," Mikey said.

"Well…I have to tell you guys something," I said and could already feel the butterflies in my stomach.

'_Come on Leo, you never get nervous. Just tell them straight,'_ I thought to myself.

"Well?" Raph said bitterly while leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

"Look….a man came by today and he wants to adopt all of us, but he can't adopt all of us right away," I said.

"Huh? He wants to adopt us, but he doesn't?" Mikey said with raised eyebrows. I took a deep breath with my eyes shut before opening them to face my brothers again.

"His name is Oroku Saki. He's a really nice man and wants to adopt all four of us, but we all know how hard it is to take in four boys all at once. So he proposed that he'd adopt me first, and then later come back for you guys once he has some formalities taken care of. I…..I said yes and he's picking me up tomorrow afternoon," I said and immediacy saw fire in Raph's eyes.

"YOU WHAT?!" Raph lashed out so loud that I noticed Donnie flinch and take a few steps away from him.

"Calm down and let me explain," I said holding my hands up but he just shoved them away after getting up right in my face.

"Explain what?! Why you accepted an adoption without even talkin' to us first; let alone someone who's only adopting you!? I knew you completely lost it!" Raph continued to scream.

"See?! This is why I can't tell you anything! You never listen to anything I tell you! He's adopting all four of us, but he needs time to make adjustments. Why else do you think it's so hard for someone to love all four of us?" I snapped.

"The problem ain't with anyone adopting all of us together! The problem is you!" he yelled getting right up in my face but I just stood there standing tall with a scowl on my face. "You are so smug with your perfect straight As, perfect ninja technique, and your need to make sure everyone knows just how perfect you really are! This has gone too far, Leo! You've been filling their heads with dreams that ain't ever gonna come true and are just taking it all for yourself!" Raph shouted pointing at Donnie and Mikey who I wasn't paying any attention to.

"CAN'T YOU THINK OF ANYONE BUT YOURSELF FOR _ONCE_?! You told me you were done waiting around and now we finally have a chance to be a true family, but you just want to throw it all away like always!" I screamed feeling my face get hot as I clenched my fists and teeth together tight.

"A _true _family!? What's up with that?! We're not good enough for you?!" he said now taking two fingers and slamming them into my chest but I didn't move.

"I'm not having that conversation with you again Raph!" I said through my clenched teeth.

"You know what?! FINE! Go on! Leave! I'll take care of Mikey and Donnie the way a _real _brother should and not just flat out abandon them," Raph said.

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!" I heard Donnie shout. Raph and I looked over to see Donnie covering his ears looking at the ground shaking. At the same time, thick, sloppy tears rolled down Mikey's cheeks like a bullet.

"Y-you don't love us anymore Leo?" Mikey whimpered and my heart sunk.

"What?! No, No!" I tried to console but Mikey was already running back inside sobbing.

"Now look what you did Fearless," Raph said but I ignored him staring at where my baby brother had just disappeared.

**Michelangelo **

I ran to my room and slammed the door before sobbing into my pillow. Leo promised. He promised me that we would have a family someday, but I didn't know that meant we'd have to be separated for a while. What if the man didn't come back for us? What if Leo didn't come back until he was eighteen and he would forget all about us? What if Raph really did mean it when he said he would run away? All these questions were buzzing through my head that a soft knock on the door made me jump.

"Mikey? It's me," I heard Leo say as the door slowly opened.

"Go away," I whined. Leo ignored me and I heard him close the door and come sit on the bottom bunk with me.

"Mikey, please listen to me. This isn't going to be forever. It's just going to be for a little while, that's all. Think of it as me testing out this new family for you. I need to make sure this is the perfect family for us. If it is, then I'll work extra hard to help Mr. Saki speed up the process. You won't even miss me. And if I don't think this is the right family for us, then I'll come back and we can try again I promise," Leo said.

"B-but why can't we all go with you?" I asked looking up at him while drying my eyes.

"Because that's a big brother rule, Mikey. Big brothers have to test possibly dangerous situations before letting their little brothers join them. Since you, Raph, and Donnie are my little brothers, then I have to go first," Leo told me.

"But you always say no one gets left behind," I reminded him. By now most of my tears had stopped rolling down my face.

"That's when we're doing a mission _together_. This time, I'm going in first and then I'll send for backup like the Justice Force does sometimes. Remember when The Silver Sentry was trying to stop Dr. Malignus but he had to go into his lair first alone? He was trying to make sure that Dr. Malignus didn't have anything that would hurt his friends," Leo said and I smiled. That was my fifth favorite Justice Force comic book and the fact that Leo remembered that made me all giggly. Leo smiled back at me and we both gave each other a bear hug. "And Mikey, I love you so much. This doesn't mean that I'll stop loving you. I'll write and come to visit you as soon as I can. I promise," he said and I just nodded squeezing tighter as a few stray tears finished rolling down my face.

**Later that night: **

Donnie and I and the three other kids Ms. Adams took care of were the only ones who talked at dinner and right before we had to go to bed. Raph and Leo were playing the longest quiet game in existence, and I'm sure they broke some kind of world record. Raph and Leo are always competing against each other but it didn't bother me or the other kids. When they were done, I wanted to ask Leo about who was adopting him, but he and Raph were still playing when it was time for bed. Leo slept on the top bunk while I had to sleep on the bottom. I don't know how long I was asleep for, but I suddenly felt someone shaking me.

"Mikey? Mikey, wake up," someone said. I slowly opened my eyes and saw Leo standing over me. "Come on Mikey, we're gonna go for a late night swim," Leo whispered.

"Cool!" I shouted and Leo put his hand over my mouth.

"Shhhhh! This is ninja training. Ninjas are stealthy; which means _quiet!_" He whispered and somewhat yelled at me. I whispered a quick 'sorry' but I don't know how Leo understood that when he still had his hand over my mouth.

"Get your suit on _quietly _while I go get up Donnie and Raph," Leo said. I nodded and quickly, but not exactly quietly pulled out my yellow swim trunks and a grey shirt with a shark on it and put them on from my drawer. After re-tucking in my bear back under the covers and put some pillows under so it looked like I was still in bed, I pulled out a small bag that had some of the swim toys I had like dive sticks, my goggles, and those softballs. When I was all ready to go, I tip-toed across from my room and walked into Donnie and Raph's room right across from mine and Leos'. Donnie was putting on his swim shirt on while Raph was fully dressed refusing to look at Leo who was carefully trying to open the window without making any noise.

"First time we've done this in a while," Donnie whispered.

"This is gonna be fun," I commented with a big smile on my face.

"Where's your towel, you knucklehead?" Raph asked. My face dropped. Whenever we snuck out for a late night swim during summer, each of us was in charge of bringing a towel for themselves and any toys we wanted to bring.

"I got it," Donnie said rolling his eyes and went over and softly threw one of the spare towels at me.

"Thanks, D," I said.

"Let's go," Leo said and each of us climbed up to the roof using the fire escape. In the city, there were two main ways to get to where you want to go; the boring way on the ground, or the fun way. Leo took a running start before he jumped off the roof and landed on the other building's roof that was right next door. Donnie went next and then Raph and I followed. We all ran together across the rooftops of New York doing flips, crazy jumps, sliding down rope lines and steep roofs, and jumping on whatever we could. All of us were pretty athletic and our ninjutsu training really comes in handy; well if you can really call looking at pictures in a book or online training.

"COWABUNGA…ow!" I was shouting just before I was about to jump when Raph smacked my head as we both jumped across. This caused me to have to do a flip to avoid losing my momentum and getting hurt. "Raph!" I whined.

"I told you before blockhead. No more 'cowabunga,'" he said.

"Okay," I said and took a running start again before jumping off the building shouting "BOOYAKASHA!"

"Booyah-what? That's not even a real word Mikey," Donnie said as he slid down one of the steeper roofs just for fun.

"Yeah, it is D," I insisted.

"Ugh! Come here you!" Raph shouted and started chasing me. I started laughing as I kept running and jumping away from Raph and I could have sworn I saw Raph smile and laugh too but he'd never admit it. I missed when we all did stuff like this together, instead of listening to Raph and Leo argue all the time. We jumped across the sky for a good ten minutes before we reached our destination; The Valley Woods Hotel Community Pool. It was located on the penthouse of this three or four-star hotel that we sneak into all the time; don't tell anyone though okay? No one comes to the pool this late and the hotel people are too into the guests downstairs to notice four kids swimming, and even if they did we'd just pretend that we were guests here. We sat our towels down and I tossed my dive sticks into the pool while putting on my goggles. Donnie meanwhile took off his glasses and setting them on one of the tables before going over to the steps and dived in. I was about to jump in but I saw Leo trying to talk to Raph but he wasn't talking to him. He just glared at him with his back partly turned. That's when I got an idea, grabbed my water cannon toy and carefully filled it up with water waiting for the right moment to strike.

"You can ignore me all you want Raph and I'm sorry for everything, but please just give Mr. Saki a chance. I'll be back to being your pain-in-the-butt big brother before you know it, and then we can finally get our wish. I know you think you're all tough and muscle but I know you want this too," Leo said to him. Raph still didn't face Leo and then I sprayed them both with the cold water.

"MIKEY!" they yelled at me and then started running after me. My eyes went wide but for some reason, I couldn't move out of the way.

"Nononononono," I shouted before they tackled me into the deep end. I forgot to hold my nose so I shot up out of the water hacking and gasping for air. Then Raph pulled me up and gave me a noogie.

"Ow! Stop it!" I begged and then Donnie swam over and started tickling me.

"AH! Leo, help!" I said struggling to still escape Raph and Donnie. I was laughing so hard that it almost hurt me.

"Sure, I'll help you, Mikey," he said and used my own water cannon to spray me.

"How do you like it now knucklehead!?" Raph asked pushing me away. Together we all splashed each other and swam around together. A few minutes later while the others were still playing, I was lying on my back looking up at the sky. With it being the city and all, you really couldn't see too many starts outside but I managed to find a faint one. That was the star; the same one that a momma and papa were wishing on right now for sons of their very own. They didn't know it yet, but they would soon have four very special sons to love and to teach them right from wrong. I gave a short smile before Donnie called me for a diving stick competition.

**I'm pretty happy with how this chapter turned out. I hope everyone has enjoyed because from here on out it'll start to get interesting now that Leo is leaving.**

**Review**

**LaurenHardy13**


	4. Chapter 4

It was around two o'clock in the morning before we decided to head back. Most of us were exhausted by the time we did. We laid out the towels on the room and one of us would bring out our suits after we changed back into our pajamas. I was out as soon as my head hit the pillow and surprisingly got a good night's sleep. The next day at noon, Leo pulled me from my reading to introduce us to Mr. Saki. Mikey was already there asking Mr. Saki an endless amount of questions.

"And this is my second little brother Donatello or Donnie as we call him," Leo said. "This is Mr. Saki," he said and I shook the man's hand.

"Hello, Donatello. Leonardo has told me you have quite a mind having already skipped a grade and currently enrolled in the gifted and talented program," he said and I felt my face go red.

"Well…I'm not _that _good," I said lifting up my shoulders and adjusting my glasses.

"Not according to Leonardo. I will enjoy the day I take you in as my student as well," he said and I gave a small grin.

"What about me huh?! Will you enjoy _me _as your student? Will I have my own room? Do you like pizza? Are you a secret ninja in the justice force?" Mikey kept asking until Leo covered his mouth.

"Relax Mikey," he said.

"Yes, I look forward to seeing your skills for myself one day. Now Leonardo, must be on our way," Mr. Saki said and we all went quiet.

"Yes Mr. Saki," Leo said and then slowly turned back over to us. Mikey's smile had now turned glum and I just stared at him. Then all at once, we all embraced each other.

"This won't be forever; I swear. When we come back, we can finally have a family," he said. I nodded and could hear Mikey already sniffling as he breathing got shorter. I could have stayed like this forever if I had to but made myself let go of Leo and Mikey. Leo took a deep breath before grabbing his suitcase and followed Mr. Saki out of the apartment after a quick hug goodbye from Ms. Adams. We all followed Leo outside, where a blank limo was waiting for him with a large man waiting for Mr. Saki and Leo by the door. Both of us watched with heavy hearts as Leo got into the limo with Mr. Saki followed by the large man with blonde hair who closed the door. Leo looked back at us with a smile before nodding at us and was taken away.

I looked over and saw tears rolling down Mikey's face as he let out a soft sob. All I could do was put an arm around him and held on tight. "It's okay, it's okay Mikey," I cooed but his sobs just got louder. Now, I stood in front of him and put both my arms around him and he grabbed onto me for dear life. "Remember, Leo said this won't be forever," I comforted but Mikey didn't show any sign that he heard me. Then I looked behind Mikey and saw Raph looking at us from the fire escape. I don't know what he doing, but he just kept just looking at us. Finally, he let out a grunt and ran/climbed up the fire escape.

'_No Raph, come back. Please!' _I pleaded in my head, but I couldn't get the words out of my mouth. Mikey's cries still screamed in my ear and I wanted so badly to cover my ears. It was like hearing nails go down an old chalkboard. I could barely keep it together! Raph stopped at our floor and put his hands on the middle of the window before slowly looking back at us. My eyes pleaded with him; begging not to leave us just yet. But my hopes were crushed when he jumped back inside the apartment without looking back. I sighed in frustration and then turned my attention back to Mikey squeezing him harder. My eyesight started to go blurry and I tried with all my might not to blink.

"C-come on Mikey. Let's go back inside," I said. It took Mikey a minute to fully let go of me and allowed me to put my arm around him in a sideways hug while we walked back inside the apartment together as the tears still rolled down his face. We walked into the living room and I saw Mikey's bear sitting on the couch waiting for us. Mikey didn't waste any time running over to the old thing and squeezing the life out of it.

The rest of the day was spent with Mikey watching T.V or playing video games in order to cheer him up. Ms. Adams even ordered pizza for everyone which helped a little. Even Raph came out of wherever he was hiding in order to eat with us, but he still didn't say anything to us. At ten, it was time for us to turn in without Leo. We all walked to our rooms and Mikey opened his door and froze staring at the bunk now belonging to one person. He looked back at us before slowly making his way in like he was walking into an old haunted house. Raph opened our door but I didn't go in. I looked at Mikey.

"Mikey, you can take my bunk tonight. I'll sleep in there," I said.

"What?! No way! Don't be such a baby," he yelled at Mikey. "I'll sleep…uh…..y-you know what? Fine! Be a baby and sleep with Donnie," he said and jogged into the room, pushed Mikey out, and slammed the door right in his face. Mikey just looked at me confused as did I until I just shrugged my shoulders, and let him come into me and Raph's room.

**The Next Day**

Ms. Adams had to almost literately drag Raph out of bed the next day for breakfast. When we were finished, most of us were about to get started on our chores when Ms. Adams pulled all three of us into her office. I couldn't figure it out, but she didn't seem like the cheery woman we all new. Something was different.

"Boys, I'm afraid I have to tell you something that you may not like. Early this morning, I received a phone call from social services. There was an emergency late last night and then need to place two little ones here immediately," she explained.

"And…what's your point?" Raph asked.

"You all know that I can only take in six children in my care and CPS needs to place the little ones here," she continued.

_'Please don't say what I think you are going to say.' _I thought as I got butterflies in my stomach.

"I'm sorry boys, but the state thinks enough is enough with all four of you trying to get a home together; we were pushing our luck already as it was with. Remember, we have to do what's best for each one of you which is finding a safe home even if that means separating you. They decided to place Mikey and Raph in another potential permanent home," she said with guilt written all over her face.

"WHAT!?" we all shouted.

"No! What about Leo and Mr. Saki?! And Donnie! We can't leave him here all alone!" Mikey whined.

"I'm so sorry Mikey but there's nothing I can do. We can't wait around for Mr. Saki to make up his mind about taking the rest of you in. We don't know how long that will take," she said.

"This is exactly what I told Fearless but did he listen?! No! Send Jake and Hannah to the new placement!" Raph yelled but Ms. Adams just shook her head.

"The state wants you and Mikey Raph. There's no avoiding the situation. CPS will be here in an hour to pick you up. You need to get your things packed and say your goodbyes," she said.

"But…" Mikey said but didn't finish his thought.

"Well _you _can call them back up and say we're not going," Raph said and stormed out of the office.

**Break*Break*Break**

Before we even knew it, our hour was up and a tall, colored woman with black, straight hair wearing a grey suit with her male partner was coming into the apartment. Following them were two police officers in full uniform.

"Lorraine Micks and this is my partner Harrison Beck from Child Protective Services of New York state," she said and each showed their badges. "We're here for Raphael and Michelangelo," she said and Ms. Adams motioned over to where we stood.

"Well too bad. I ain't goin' with you," Raph snapped crossing his arms.

"I'm sorry but you don't have a choice. We're relocating you to another home," she explained.

"Fine, then take both my brothers instead of just one," Raph continued.

"Your new home can only take in you and Michelangelo for the moment," Harrison said.

"Then…then put Donnie and Mikey there and leave _me _here," Raph said as a cold shiver went up my spine.

'_No! That's just as bad as leaving me here. I…I can't be the brave one for Mikey without Raph and Leo.' _I told myself. I couldn't even keep it together when Leo left yesterday but to be honest, I don't know which situation would be worse.

"That's not how it works Raphael. We didn't just pick you at random; this new placement will bring you that much closer to finding a permanent home," Lorraine continued.

"All the more reason to send Mikey and Donnie instead! Don't most people want younger kids instead of a moody teenager?" Raph asked.

"Uh, Raph? You do know I'm technically a teenager too right?" I asked.

"Shut up you geek!" Raph snapped at me through clenched teeth. "Younger kids have an easier time finding homes right?" he said desperately.

"That isn't true Raphael. The trouble is finding enough homes willing to accept and love a child. It has nothing to do with you in the slightest," she said and then looked at her watch. "We don't have time for this. Boys, grab your things and let's go," she said and Raph glared at them.

"No," he said and sat down on the couch still with his arms crossed. "Take them," he insisted again.

"But Raphie…" Mikey said but Raph didn't even look at him.

"Raphael, I really don't want to have to force you out but I will if I have to," she said and I looked over at Raph just waiting for his response with both fear and curiosity. Raph didn't even flinch or move. "Alright," she said and looked over at the two officers. One of them nodded and walked over towards Raph.

"Let's go," he said holding touching his shoulder, but Raph slapped it off. That's when everything took off for me. I covered my mouth with both hands and already felt my body make tears in my eyes. The officer grabbed Raph who then started hitting and punching trying to escape.

"Get your damn hands off me! Donnie!" he shrieked and the tears finally rolled down my face.

"Come on," the officer said and managed to drag him out of the apartment. His screams were echoed from the hall back into the room that gave me more shivers than before. Then, another officer went over to Mikey and scooped him up with no problem due to how light he was. Mikey screamed just like Raph and flared around in the officer's arms but showed no sign of having any issues getting me out of the apartment. I fell to my knees and covered my ears sobbing trying to get Raph and Mikey's screams out of my head.

"DONNIE!" I heard Mikey scream from the echoed hallway but just squeezed my ears tighter.

Suddenly the screams were starting to sound faint and my heart dropped. My eyes went wide and I raced out of the apartment room down the steps as fast as I could towards the screaming. I ran outside the door and saw a social services car open as they were trying to push Raph in there with Mikey right behind him still flaring around.

"Wait!" I shouted running over to them but was pulled back by none other than Ms. Adams. I looked at her with vengeful eyes. "NO! How could you?! Raph! Mikey!" I cried but she still held on. Raph managed to stop moving his head all around and looked right at me.

"NO! DONNIE!" Raph shrieked as he was pushed closer towards the car. Raph pushed and pulled with all my might but the officer still held on with a death grip.

"DONNIE, DON'T GO!" Mikey screamed at the top of his little lungs sobbing while trying to reach out for me as they dragged him to the waiting car. I wanted to hold out my hand towards my two remaining brothers but struggled to get free of my own grip.

"Breath Don, breath," Ms. Adams tried to console me but I didn't want to hear any of her words.

"Stop! Please!" I begged as more and more tears rolled down my face. I could feel my heart racing and felt more helpless then I've ever been my entire life. All I could do was watch as they pushed Raph into the car, but he just barreled his way back out into the officer.

"Come on son," he said again but Raph just growled and fought back like a rabid dog. "Put that one in first," Lorraine said and the officer holding Mikey easily got him into the back of the car before managing to push Raph in before slamming the door shut behind them.

"RAPH! MIKEY!" I screamed. Raph meanwhile kept used his fist to beat against the glass that wouldn't budge. That made him push harder and harder that it made a loud 'bump' that caused me to flinch. I could still hear Mikey's cries and saw him looking at me with his hands on the back window completely distraught. I felt my body ache from all the pulling and pushing, but I still continued to fight. I started to sob harder when I saw Raph use his whole body to either break the glass of the car, or force the child-lock door open.

"Let's go!" said Lorraine and started to jog to the driver's seat with her partner heading for the passenger seat.

"NO! PLEASE!" I pleaded.

"Don, it's okay. It's only going to be for a little while," Ms. Adams said but I still didn't listen to her lies. The car turned on and I saw something in Raph's eyes I didn't think I'd ever see; panic.

"DONNIE!" Raph yelled and the car pulled away. The last image I saw of my older and only little brother was them looking back at me with their palms on the back window.

**Great, now **_**I'm **_**crying. It's sad to say but some siblings in foster care do in fact get separated from each other in order to place them in a foster home. I promise that things will start to pick up after a while and yes, a certain master will be involved in this story later on. **

**Hope you all enjoyed.**

**Review! **

**LaurenHardy13**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Don't own TMNT.**

**Michelangelo **

I'm not sure how, but I managed to calm my cries into nothing but sniffles. Raphie had his arms crossed looking out the window with a mean scowl on his face. I didn't dare talk to him so I was left to face my fears on my own. If Leo and Donnie were taken away from us, would _I _get taken away from Raph next?

"Here we are boys," the lady said pulling up to a small house near Market Street. It was a semi-nice all brown house three levels up with a long staircase leading up to a brown door. The entire block was fenced off with the same type of metal used for the stair railing, and there was a small gate to the right of the house that led to a little garden. The social worker got out and opened Raph's side which was closer to the sidewalk. Raph just sat there still with crossed arms and that 'mean mug.'

"Come on Raphael. Don't make this any harder than it needs to be. You should count yourself lucky that you even have a foster home to go to with one of your brothers," she said.

"You know what would be even better? Having a foster home with _all_ my brothers," Raph snapped causing me to flinch a little.

"At least you have Michelangelo with you," she said and motioned us out. Raph got out and I followed out never taking my eyes off of the brown house. Our social worker closed the door and then walked over to the back of the car and opened the trunk. There, she pulled out our suitcases that Ms. Adams had helped me pack, and Raph's which she completely packed herself. Then she started to make her way up the stairs to the door surrounded by a cool-looking pillar. Meanwhile, I put my suitcase on the ground and opened it. There, I grabbed my bear and was about to close it back up when Raph came over.

"Put your dumb bear away," he said.

"But-"

"Do you want these people to think something's wrong with you?! Your twelve years old and you still carry around a stuffed toy. Should I get your blankie out for you and make you a warm bottle of milk?" he asked.

"No, but you can still get me a warm _glass_ of milk with cookies. Oo! And an extra-large pizza with extra cheese, and pepperoni and…ow!" I said and Raph hit my shoulder super hard. Not really, but it sure felt like it.

"Raphael!" the social worker called waiting at the door. I looked back at Raph who glared at me, and I slowly put my bear back in my suitcase. Just then, the door was opened by a tall lady with long blonde hair wearing a three-quartered sleeved pink shirt and jeans.

"Hello!" the woman said in a cheery voice with a big smile. "You must be Raphael and Michelangelo! Welcome to your new home."

"Boys, this is Mrs. Mary Young; your new foster mother," Lorraine said.

"Just call me Mary. It's a pleasure to meet you both," she said holding out her hand just as we got up there. I immediately took it and she shook it gently while putting her other hand over mine. Then she reached for Raph who didn't make a move still with that glare.

"Excuse him. He hasn't had the best of mornings," the social worker said.

"It's quite alright. Would you like to come in?" she said standing to the side and we followed our social worker in. When you first walk in, it's nothing but a narrow hallway, but take a few steps forward, it opens out into a small living room. There's an L shaped couch facing a mounted T.V and electric fireplace. There was also a coffee table and an end table with a few big chairs on the side. The walls were decorated with pictures of a Mary with a man and some knick-knacks and paintings as well.

"That little area over there leads to the kitchen," Mary explained motioning another little hallway on the other end of the living room. "…and if you follow me, I can show you to your new room," Mary said. We walked up the steps immediately in front of us and made it to the second floor. The second floor consisted of a long hallway with doors and more photos. "Over here is my room, and that one is where the bathroom is. Unfortunately, we all have to share one bathroom, but I'm sure we can make it work. And this room over here is your room," she continued and led us through one of the doors. It was a medium-sized room with two plain-looking twin-sized beds, a single dresser, and a closet.

"Yes, I know it looks very plain in here, but I wanted to wait for you to arrive so we can add more color and items to match your personalities. You boys can leave your stuff here for now," she continued. Then she took us out of the room and headed back towards the stairs.

"Hey, Ms. Mary, what's in that room?" I asked. There was one door all the way at the end of the hall that was closed.

"Oh, that's my art studio. My late husband and I were avid painters if you couldn't already tell. I'd prefer if you don't go in there unless I'm in there and you knock. There are paint cans and canvases everywhere and I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself or knock over anything. Come along and I can show you the little exercise area my husband built," she said and I looked at Raph who finally came out of being Mr. Grumpy pants when she said 'exercise area'.

**Break*Break*Break**

After Ms. Mary showed us around and signed off on a few papers, Raph and I were back up in our new room unpacking; well, _I _was unpacking. Raph was just lying in bed with his hands behind his head.

"I kinda like it here, but I still wish Leo and Donnie were here too," I said but Raph didn't say anything. "But we still have a chance though right? You said a foster home's not forever. So if Mr. Saki comes back and wants to adopt all of us, then we can be with Leo again. I just hope no one adopts Donnie while we're gone. I miss him," I continued and opened up to the first page of my sketchbook. I had glued a picture of all four of us smiling during a walk to Central Park with Ms. Adams right behind the cover page. I felt my eyes start to fill up with tears and I closed my eyes letting them out while hugging my book. "You were right Raphie. We should have just worried about staying together," I mumbled.

"Alright, enough with all this, I'm starving," Raph said.

"Oo! I wanna eat too!" I said setting my book down and followed Raph out of our room to the kitchen where Mary was.

"Oh, hello boys," she said.

"Hi there Ms. Mary. Raph and I are kinda hungry," I told her.

"Alright then. Let me see what I have," she said and went over to the fridge and opened it. It was completely bare with only some waters. "Whoops, guess I'm all out of milk, butter, and cheese. There really isn't much in the cupboard either as I wanted to wait till you arrived to get food, but the good news is that we live right by Market Street." She then went over to her purse and pulled out some money. "How about you boys head down there and pick up some of your favorite foods to eat. But make sure you get the milk, bread, eggs, cheese, dish detergent, cereal…"

"So basically everything," Raph said rolling his eyes.

"Well, you both are going to the store anyway. Oh and I'm running low on paintbrushes if one of you could snag them for me as well," she said.

"You're not coming with us?" I asked.

"No dear; for I'm on a creative spark and I must continue my latest masterpiece before I lose my spark. My paintings are our only source of income for the moment. If I can't paint and sell my work, then we surely won't have enough money for food and other necessities; especially since I now have to provide for two more teenage mouths," Mary said.

"And what's _that _suppose to mean huh?" Raph snapped with his hands transforming into fists shooting daggers at Mary. Quickly I ran to stand in his way in front of Ms. Mary.

"Raph wait," I said holding up my hands not wanting him to lose his temper. Then she might send us away again or throw us out! Would Mr. Saki still want us if he found out that Raph and I were kicked out of a previous home? Then we would never be together again or we might never have a real home!

"Control your anger, Raphael. Now if you boys want to eat soon, I suggest you be on your way," Mary said and walked out of the kitchen without another word.

"I'll show _you _how to control my anger," Raph said and I ran over to hug him.

"Don't get mad Raph. Please don't get mad. I bet you're just really hungry. I know _I'm _really hungry. Let's go get some food to eat. You can pick out anything you want to eat for lunch and I'll eat it with you. I'll even eat Green beans if you want. Well…maybe not those, but I'll eat anything else you like. Pizza, baloney and cheese, a supreme pizza with extra pepperoni…." I continued and I could feel Raph's face start to cool down.

"Fine," he said and pushed me off of him. He then took the money and I skipped off towards the front door.

**Break*Break*Break**

**Donatello **

I had been sitting on the window sill for hours now. Not even my boredom made me come out to grab the science book I was reading just down the hall in my and Raph's room….well mine and the new seven-year-old girl's room now. I felt so numb almost like I was in some kind of dream; a dream that would turn out to be one of my worst nightmares. The conversation that Raph and I had a few nights ago replayed in my head once more. Well, you got your wish Donatello, but is it what you _really _wanted? Was this punishment for siding with Leo over Raph? Or was it because I was starting to doubt my answer after we came back from the pool last night? I was so deep in thought that I didn't hear someone walk up behind me.

"Donatello? Are you alright?" asked the one person that I thought I could trust besides my brothers. I didn't answer her question.

"I hope you know how truly sorry I am and that I really did try to stop this," she said.

"Then you didn't try hard enough," I let slip out of my mouth. I was going to apologize, but I just couldn't say it without having it sound forced; so we were both left in complete silence save for a few of the other laughing children. I watched from the reflection as Ms. Adams sigh and continue to stare at me with regret. Suddenly, I felt some energy fill up in me and I used it to stand back up.

"I'm going for a walk," I said without giving her a glance. I slowly walked down the little stairs and started to head towards the front door.

"Don, wait," Ms. Adams called and ran ahead of me to her office. Moments later, she came back out and put something in my palm, but I didn't see what it was; but I could still feel the small object.

"What's my rule?" she asked.

"Only use it in when you absolutely have to," I repeated back. Ms. Adams nodded and moved her body parallel to the side of the hallway so that I could pass.

"Please be careful. I want you back here by no later than five sharp," she said. I nodded my head and left the apartment complex placing Raph's pocket knife in my own pocket. I walked down the streets of New York not paying mind to the people and tourists who took never-ending pictures. I just kept walking and bumping into people who were waiting for the crosswalk light to appear. To be honest, I wasn't sure what exactly I was thinking about, whether it was about Leo or the others, the argument, or going over math equations. The busy and noisy streets of the city were blocked out as I just continued to walk with my hands in my pockets. Then, I stopped and decided to look at exactly where I was; which just happened to be one of New York's most famous attraction; Central Park.

All the sounds of distant car horns and people talking came back to me including a soft whimper that I just made out. I looked around and saw a Japanese man sitting on one of the benches looking down at the ground. He had black hair, wore a white shirt and khakis and a black belt. Then as if sensing my presence, he opened his eyes and raised his head to look up at me. He had bags under his eyes and red shot eyes like he wasn't sleeping well, but he seemed just like a regular guy. We just looked at each other both with identical, hurt expressions. Then the man's expression changed to curiosity; probably why I was disturbing him when it looked like he wanted to be alone. With that, I continued walking blanking out the noise again as I walked through the park leaving the Japanese man behind.

**Gee. I wonder who this mysterious Japanese man is. Oh well, it can't be important right? I mean thousands of Japanese live in the U.S. including the one who just took Leo that everyone isn't really trusting according to the reviews. What's so special about this one? Anyways, there's a lot more to come and I hope you all enjoyed. **

**Until Next Time, **

**LaurenHardy13 **


	6. Chapter 6

**Raphael **

After Mikey and I got back from Market Street with the 'groceries,' Mary actually made each of us a baloney and cheese sandwich.

"Thank you so much for going to the store for me boys. I hope you like your lunch," she said as Mikey and I took a bite of our sandwich.

"It's super good; but not as good as pizza though," Mikey mumbled with food in his mouth, and I just rolled my eyes.

"Don't talk with food in your mouth Michelangelo," she said and Mikey swallowed his sandwich. "I'm guessing you really like pizza huh?" she asked. _Now she was in for it. _

"Yup! It's the bestest food in the whole world. Ms. Adams, our other foster mom, would sometimes buy a pizza kit and I'd make my world-famous pepperoni pizza for us and all the other kids. Raph says my pizzas are gross, but he just doesn't have good taste," he said and I hit him on the back.

"Ow!" he whined.

"I never said I didn't like your food, Mike. I said I hated your _experimental _food," I said taking another bite of my sandwich.

"Experimental food?" Mary said.

"Oh yeah. When I grow up, I'm gonna be a ninja, like my older brother Leo, and then open up my own pizza shop; so I gotta start working on my recipes. I've already come up with pizza-noodle soup, and pizza dogs, and nacho pizza…" he said and at that point, I just grunted, and covered my ears so I wouldn't listen to this again. I didn't unplug them until Mikey tapped me on the shoulder.

"What?!" I snapped.

"Which one was better? The pizza-noodle soup or the pizza shake I made last week," he asked.

"Neither," I responded.

"You're right, I can't decide either. They're both super yummy; which means I gotta watch out for anyone who would want to steal my secret recipes. No one will dare try to rob _me _though. I'm Michelangelo; ninja-chef," he said in a deep voice while standing up and doing a defense pose while Mary chuckled.

"A ninja-chef huh? Don't think I've heard that one before," Mary said. "Perhaps the next time I'm at the store, I'll buy you a pizza kit and we can make one together. You'll have to tell me your favorite toppings though."

'_Yeah, the next time _you're_ at the store,' I thought. _

"Really? All right! You're gonna love one of 'Mikey's world-famous pepperoni pizzas'!" Mikey cheered. "So did you find your inspiration for that painting you were doing?"

"Some. I got what I wanted to get done but I'm afraid the painting's not quite done yet," she said.

"Can I see it?" Mikey asked.

"Not right now. An artist never shows an unfinished masterpiece until it's fully complete," Mary said.

"Oh, okay," Mikey said.

"Speaking of which, I think it's time that we go over some rules," she said and I saw her reach over to grab her sandwich, but knocked over her cup spilling soda everywhere. "Oops. Michelangelo, be a dear and grab some paper towels over there for me," she said.

"Okay," Mikey said and he went over and grabbed a whole roll of paper towels by the sink. Then he ran back over and handed the paper towels to Mary, but she just looked at him with her arms crossed.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Hurry up and wipe it, Michelangelo, before it spreads even further," she asked. My eyebrows rose and looked over at Mikey who seemed lost; more lost than usual.

"Oh. Alright," he gently said and before going to tear off a paper towel from the roll, I grabbed his shoulder stopping him.

"No," I said grabbing the paper towels from Mikey. "You knocked it over, so _you _clean it up," I said and slammed it on the table in front of her.

"Raphael, I asked Michelangelo to…"

"Oh I heard ya. But I also saw what you did. If you wanna talk about rules, then _I_ got one just for you; yer not ordering my brother and me around just to do _your _chores," I snapped.

"Raphael, I will not be spoken to like that! This is a small apartment complex with two more mouths that need to be fed while living off of my painting salary. If you want to have food on the table then both of you need to co-operate and help out around here," Mary said and I jumped out of the chair I was in nearly knocking it to the ground.

"Shut the hell up with this whole 'extra mouths to feed' thing! It's getting on my nerves," I yelled and she just gave me 'a look'.

"But you can't deny it, can you? My husband died leaving me with nothing but an empty house and bills that weren't going to be paid themselves. I've worked too long and hard to lose everything I've accomplished so far and won't stand to lose it all. I _want_ to extend my kindness to others less fortunate like yourselves, but rest assured that I'm not afraid to throw you out into the streets if I have to," she said and my hands turned to tight fists.

"No! Please don't," Mikey begged. "L-look! I'll wipe it up, I promise!" Mikey tore a few paper towels off the roll and started to wipe the table.

"Mikey, don't you dare," I warned but he just ignored me and cleaned the table surface really fast.

"S-see? No problem," he said and threw away the soaked towels never taking his eyes off of her.

"Thank you. Now as I was saying before, we have rules in this house. Rule one, both of you need to pick up after yourselves around here," she told us. "Rule two, I'm not to be disturbed for any reason while I'm working in my art studio unless the house is on fire. Remember, good paintings equal money that we need to survive and I need to concentrate."

"O-Okie Dokie Ms. Mary," Mikey stuttered. Then she looked at me still with that look.

"Well, what's it going to be Raphael; a roof over your head or the dark streets of New York City with no food where no one will give you two-second glances?" I stared her back down with a scowl ignoring Mikey giving me his favorite 'puppy-dog look' with those baby blues of his.

"Please Raph," Mikey whimpered.

"Fine!" I grunted before turning on my heels and leaving the kitchen shoulder-hitting Mikey as I walked away.

"Raphie's not really good with his emotions and all Ms. Mary, but _I'm _an expert. Basically, him shoving me and talking back to you his way of saying he's really…" I heard Mikey say but I didn't care. I just stormed up the two flights of stairs up to our room. I walked in and slammed the door shut behind me. My fists were clenched, I inhaled and exhaled through my clenched teeth, and I felt how sweaty my face was getting. Then without thinking, I grabbed our backpacks and started stuffing clothes in each of them; mine in the red one and Mike's in the orange and black one. I didn't pay too much attention to which shirts or pants I put in; no way would _she_ notice them missing. When I was done, I zippered back up the backpacks and put them back into the closet we shared.

**The Next Day **

**Donatello **

I opened my eyes and looked over at my alarm clock; 7:15. Best I better get up now. It felt weird not being woken up by Leo for once to go on our annual run but I, to be honest, had been up for hours unable to go back to sleep. As quietly as I could, I got out of bed, sloppily made the bed, put on my glasses, grabbed my black shorts and purple workout shirt, and tiptoed out the door without waking up one of the seven-year-old twins who I now shared a room with. After I got dressed and did my 'morning routine,' I went downstairs to the kitchen and grabbed a banana and a bottle of water.

"Still going on your run?" a voice asked. I looked over and saw Ms. Adams staring at me from the doorway.

"Have to. Leo will kill me if he found out I missed it," I responded.

"I honestly don't think Leo will care because of everything that's going on, but I still commend you for keeping up with your exercise," she said.

"Thanks," I said tossing my banana peel in the trash.

"I meant to tell you this yesterday when you came back, but I feel more comfortable with giving you the pocket knife to keep. I know you're not going to make a stupid choice like your brother did," she said holding out the pocket knife. I took the knife from her and put it in my pocket.

"Do you have your phone?" she asked.

"Yup," I said patting my other pant pocket and pulling out the Bluetooth earbuds putting them in my ears.

"I'll have a proper breakfast made by the time you get back. I still want you to clean up the dishes and take out the trash when you come back," she said.

"I will," I said grabbing my water bottle and headed out to the kitchen.

"Be careful," she called out and after a quick reassurance on my part, I left the apartment.

A half an hour later I was running through Central Park. I was just coming up on the Bow Bridge when I decided to take a quick breather and slowly walked over to a bench near the edge of the water. I pulled out my phone a paused the music I was listening to and just looked at the water. It was Saturday and not many people were out and about around eight o'clock. There were a few people out boating but that would all change in another hour. Hundreds of families would come to this park every day as tourists, locals going for a run like me, or a mother and father taking their children for a little summer picnic. Speaking of picnic, the Fourth of July celebration was next week. It was a day all four of us had always looked forward to. Every year, Ms. Adams would take all us kids to the park for a little cook-out, and then we'd all go watch the fireworks together. This is going to be my first year going without my brothers; if I even go at all.

Suddenly I felt my eyes begin to get watery. I gasped and looked at the ground trying not to catch anyone's gaze who was walking by.

'_Not not. Please not now.'_ I thought to myself. I felt the tears begin to fill up my eyesocket and would pour down any second now. That's when I saw a stone by my foot. I scooped it up from the ground and ran towards the edge of the lake before I lost my fading sight. I aimed the rock back and skipped it across the lake just as a tear started to roll down my cheek. Quickly, I swiped away the tear off my cheek and scouted the ground for another flat rock. When I did, I picked it up and tossed it again watching as it skipped across the water four times. Again and again, I picked up a rock at attempted to skip it trying to beat the previous or improve.

'_Come on Don. You shouldn't be this upset. Leo said this would only be temporary,' _I continued to tell myself by my heart still had doubts.

I wasn't sure just how many rocks I had thrown, but I threw one more ignoring just how wet my face had become. This time it didn't skip at all but just _'plopped'_ into the water.

It was over.

I felt to my knees letting out some silent sobs that made me feel like I was going to throw up while my hands gripped the hard ground.

'_Calm down Donnie. It's okay. You gotta stop before people start staring at you,' _I thought, trying to do some deep breathing technique that I had previously done with Leo.

_Leo!_

' _That's it!' _I thought and got into a lotus position; well the best I could do anyway and put each hand facing upwards on my knees.

'_Come on Donnie. Clear your mind and focus on your breathing.'_

'Inhale'

'Exhale'

With each breath, my shaky breath got longer and longer. When I felt calm enough to open my wet eyes again, more people were out boating and walking around. Just as I thought, no one cared about a thirteen-year-old orphan crying by the lake because his brothers are gone. I wiped my face before standing back up to start heading back. That's when I saw him; the same Japanese man I had seen yesterday on the bench near the one I had been sitting on. His face wasn't as stressed as it had been, but he still just looked at me.

'_How long has he been sitting there watching me?'_ I wondered. It didn't matter though as he looked at me with guilt and sadness. _'Perfect. Guess he saw my little meltdown.' _Even though my face was still wet, I could feel how hot my cheeks were becoming as I squeezed my lips together and held onto my left arm. I glanced at the man one more time before speed walking away from him as fast as I could wiping away a stray tear from my face.

**Break*Break*Break*Break*Break**

On my way back to the apartment, I decided to walk in silence most of the way with my head down. The last thing I wanted was for another person to see me the way I looked.

Suddenly, I felt someone grab my hair and cover my mouth pulling me into an ally. It was a taller man I'd say in his mid-thirties wearing a shirt with the sleeves cut off, jeans, and all with a tattoo of a 'purple dragon' on their arms. He slammed me against the wall and held me along with some of his buddies. One had a blonde Mohawk who was holding a long pipe, and another had hair longer than mine that came a little past his shoulders.

"What's a little one like you doing in a neighborhood like this?" The leader holding me asked while taking his hand off my mouth.

"Case you didn't already know, this here's our turf kid," said long-haired dude.

"I-I don't want any trouble," I stuttered trying to reach for the knife in my pocket.

"Neither do we. We just wanna ask you somthin'. How much dough you got in your pocket?" Mohawk man asked.

"N-nothin'," I said.

"Aw come on. It's summertime and your free to travel and go wherever the hell you wanna. You gotta have something on ya," the leader asked.

"I don't! Honestly," I gasped.

"I don't believe ya. Frisk him boys," leader said and Mohawk and the long-haired dude started going through my pockets.

"Don't touch me!" I shouted but they continued.

"Ooo, lookie what we got here," Mohawk said pulling out Raph's knife.

"Give that back! It's my brothers!" I shouted.

"Your brother's huh? Bet he taught you all kinds of moves with this thing. We could use fighters like you in our gang," the leader said. "What do you say about giving you a nice tattoo right about here?" he asked holding the knife up to my arm.

"No!" I shouted now shaking. I was going to die right here and I'd never see my brothers again.

"Damn! The kid really doesn't have anything on him," long-haired guy said. I felt a cold shiver sliver it's way up my spine.

"Really? That's too bad, but we can take payments with your blood," the leader said.

"NO!" I screamed as they laughed at me.

Then before I could let out another word, the long-haired guy was yanked backward and thrown against the wall across from us. He fell to the ground totally out cold as the rest of us all looked at his attacker in awe. It was the Japanese man from the park.

"Release him. Now!" He ordered.

"G-Get 'im Brooks," leader ordered Mohawk as he still had a death grip on me.

"With pleasure," the guy called Brooks said. He ran at the man and started swinging the pipe at him, but the Japanese man dodged his attacks and then started punching his arm a few times. All of a sudden, his arm fell completely limp and the man hit Mohawk's chest a few times. He grunted in pain and then just fell to the ground unconscious.

"Whoa," I mumbled. Then he turned to face us two. The leader then threw me to the ground hard and turned to face the man.

"Shoulda minded yer own businessman," leader said and started running towards him. From my end, I saw the leader reaching for his back pocket and pull out something.

"He's got a knife!" I shouted. The Japanese man literately moved just the top half of his body causing leader to miss him completely. Then he gave a hard slap across leader's chest and kicked him so hard that he was launched back into the large dumpster and fell unconscious like the rest of those thugs. I stared at all three of the knocked out muggers while the man slowly made his way over to me.

"Are you alright?" he asked in his deep Japanese dialect holding his hand out to me. I stared at him for a moment before taking it and he helped me off the ground.

"I…I guess so," I responded refusing to take my eyes away from him. The man nodded his head and started to walk away from me. "Wait!" I called holding my arm out. The man stopped and faced me once more.

"Yes?" he said.

"Why…..why did you save me?" I mustered out.

"Would you prefer that I didn't?" he asked me and my eyes went wide. _Nice going, Donnie. _

"No! No! I'm…really grateful that you did, but…..why did you do it? You don't even know me," I said.

"Why not?" he asked me and proceeded to walk away leaving me still in awe.

**Ooooo! The Japanese man and Donnie actually talked to each other. I told you guys things would start getting interesting.** **Really enjoyed writing this chapter and I hope you all enjoyed it. **

**Don't forget to leave a review and have a great day. **

**LaurenHardy13**


	7. Chapter 7

"Donnie! Come play with me," Sophie, one of the seven-year-old twins said storming into our room.

"I can't, I'm busy right now," I told her not looking at her. I was too focused on the flowchart I was making.

"But I wanna play 'Sorry'! Stella and Max want to play 'Trouble'but _I _wanna play Sorry," she whined.

"Oh, that's nice," I said grabbing a red marker and drawing another line on the big poster board.

"Then let's go tell them that we're playing 'Sorry'!" she said.

"Mikey…uh I mean Sophie, go play somewhere else. I'm in the middle of something," I said still not looking at her.

"You're mean! I'm not your friend anymore!" she said and she stomped away from me, but I didn't care. All that mattered to me was the large flowchart I'd spent all day working on. The very top of the flowchart said 'Why he saved me,' and I had different lines and different colors going in all different directions leading to little sketches I had drawn. I wasn't as good a drawer as Mikey, but you could still tell what I was trying to say; at least I could. Raph on the other hand or any of my brothers for that matter would probably not understand but as long as I could read it, it was good enough for me.

"One of these has to be the one," I muttered looking at all the different scenarios I had drawn. Maybe he had a grudge with one of the men, but then why would he follow me from the park? Perhaps he didn't even know he was following me. Yeah, and the way back to his house happened to be the same way I was taking when I was attacked. But then why would he risk his safety to save _me?_ Suddenly I was brought out of my thinking by a quick knock on my door.

"Sophie, I already told you…!" I snapped turning around and saw not Sophie, but Ms. Adams staring back at me. "Oh, I'm sorry Ms. Adams," I said feeling my cheeks go red after the tone I used with her. Ms. Adams was leaning against the doorway with her arms crossed, but her face wasn't angry.

"It's fine Don. What are you still doing up here? You've been up here since you got back and that was hours ago," Ms. Adams said.

"Huh? Oh right. Well, you know how I am once my brain starts working," I responded.

"I certainly do. But I don't think I've ever seen you this committed to a project that isn't related to your schoolwork; especially with something like this," she said coming over and looking over my work.

"I just can't figure it out. That man saved me from those thugs and then just walked away without asking for anything in return," I told her.

"Did you ask him why?" she asked me.

"Yeah, but all he said was 'why not.' There has to be something more going on with him. I know there's more to him than just doing a good deed," I said and continued drawing more lines and sketches.

"You know Don, there _are _good people in the world no matter how bad and dangerous it may seem out there. You were in trouble and maybe he really did feel obligated to help someone in need; especially if he was capable of saving you. How much guilt would _you _have if you saw one of your brothers under attack and just walked away from them?"

"That's different though. We're brothers. That man doesn't even know me and then just happened to see me getting mugged on the streets. Those people had knives on them and he could have gotten seriously injured ordering those goons to let me go," I explained. Then I stopped and slammed the cap back onto the marker. "You should have seen his face when I first saw him, Ms. Adams. He looked so…broken. Even when I saw him today, he still looked so torn about something, but he seemed more curious about me than whatever _he_ was going through. Most humans don't want to worry about other people's problems when they are going through a personal crisis themselves."

"Maybe he sensed something was wrong with you too and wanted to make sure you made it back home alright," she answered coming closer to me.

"Yeah, I already wrote that down, see?" I said pointing to the little sketch of the man looking at me, and then ran my finger down the line where he followed me to make sure I didn't do anything stupid. "UGH! Why does this bother me so bad?" I moaned putting my hands on my forehead.

"Donnie, if it bothers you that bad, why don't you head to Central Park tomorrow and see if you run into him again. Then _really_ ask him why he saved you," Ms. Adams suggested.

"Are you kidding me? Running into a stranger twice in two days at different times is one thing, but actually running into him again? That's almost a near impossibility! If you multiply the total number of people in New York City on a good day, with the total hours in a day and….." I said grabbing my marker and writing my equation on the very bottom of my flowchart but Ms. Adams grabbed my arm in the middle of my explanation.

"You said a _near _impossibility, Donatello. That still means that there's still a chance that you'll run into him again; especially if he finds the peacefulness of the park helpful with whatever he's going through. You know, they say two people who are both going through the same kinds of negative emotions can help each other overcome them," she explained.

"Yeah, otherwise you'll end up completely like Raph," I said chuckling but my face immediately dropped. "I…I'm going outside to read," I said and walked out of the door without another word wiping my eyes.

**Break*Break*Break*Break*Break**

**Michelangelo  
4:00 pm**

The first night in Ms. Mary's house wasn't bad, but to be honest there was a part of me that really missed the bunk beds. Nothing really exciting happened the day after. Ms. Mary said she had to go out because she had to meet up with some friends of hers for the majority of the day. So it was mainly just Raph and me. Raph was in the workout area upstairs, while I sat out in the hallway bouncing a little bouncy ball against the wall. All of a sudden, the ball over bounced, and ended up rolling towards the 'forbidden room.' I got up and picked up the ball when I saw something colorful from the crack of the door.

"Wow," I said dropping my ball and went into the room. Inside was what looked like someone's bedroom with a little toddler bed and trunk sitting against the end of the bed frame. There were also two easels set up with unfinished paintings with paint and different size brushes everywhere. There were also stacks of paintings in nearly every corner, but I was more concerned with what was in the trunk. I ran over there and took off all the blankets and photos of some guy, a baby, and Ms. Mary covered in dust. When that was done, I opened the trunk and it was filled with some toys; even if most of them were baby toys like rattles and chew toys.

'Whose toys are these?' I asked myself. Then I closed the bin back up and lifted the frames and stuff back on the trunk. All of a sudden, I lost my grip and two frames fell to the ground shattering the glass making a loud 'screeching' noise. I held up my shoulders while scrunching my face up while _gently _putting the rest of the frames that weren't broken away. I looked down at the shattered glass and that's when I noticed a folded piece of paper. By habit, I picked up the paper and unfolded it.

_Mary, _

_I'm sorry it had to be this way, but I can't do this anymore. I've taken Carter and we'll be out of the state by the time you read this. I really can't explain why, but something just isn't quite clicking between the two of us anymore. When we first met, you were so enthusiastic and always cheerful no matter what situation. I would work on my masterpieces in the studio and even try to teach you a few techniques about painting; I'd be lying if I said those weren't some of the best moments of my life. Then we had Carter and it was the best thing to ever happen to me. _

_It wasn't until after you started hanging out with those Purple Dragon people that I noticed a change in you. Your temper rose and you got very aggressive in situations that didn't need to be. I tried so hard to reason with you but you always brushed off whatever I tried to say. The last straw for me was that day I walked in on you shaking Carter violently with that handprint on his arm. I was up all night after that, trying to process everything and I knew I had to do the best possible thing not only for myself but for baby Carter. I got a lawyer and we've been working on divorce papers for weeks now. They're currently located in Carter's little toy trunk. I'm sorry it didn't work out between us._

_I hope you're happy with whatever you decide to do with your life._

_Goodbye Mary,_

_Reed _

I reread the note again as I couldn't find the strength to look away. That's why she took us in! She was so upset about losing her husband and son, that she thought that we could help her move past that pain. That way she wouldn't be so lonely anymore.

'I gotta tell Raph!' I thought but suddenly the door opened and there stood Mary looking not too pleased.

"Why are you here? I told you never to come in here!" she shouted.

"I…" I stuttered and then she grabbed my shoulders and shook me.

"I take you into my home and you disobey me on day one?!" she continued shouting while still squeezing me. I felt a sharp pain in the area she squeezed me.

"I didn't mean to," I whimpered.

"You didn't mean to?! Is that suppose to make it all better because you didn't mean to walk in the only room I told you not to go in?!"

"OW! You're hurting me!" I said feeling the tears already but she somehow managed to squeeze harder.

"If I ever catch you in here again you won't be able to get back up!"

"Y-yes ma'am! OW!" I said and she threw me on the ground hard. I started to cry and she kicked me.

"Get out of here before you mess up my floor. Now I see why no one wanted to take you and your brother in," she said. Before she could kick me again, I got up and ran to my bedroom slamming the door, and diving onto my pillow sobbing. Luckily my bear was right there, so I grabbed him and squeezed the life out of him sniffling. I don't know how long exactly I had laid there, but by the time I was all out of tears, I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

**Break*Break*Break*Break*Break**

I opened my eyes and saw that the sky outside was growing dimmer. I sat up and saw Raph was now sitting on his bed reading some of his comic books. He gave me a quick glance before returning to his comic and repositioning himself on the bed. That's when I became aware of a prickling pain on my upper arms. I pulled up one of my sleeves and saw a faint, red handprint indented on my arm.

'_Whoa,' I thought _and lightly ran my finger over the area where it really hurt. I looked back over at Raph who wasn't paying any attention to me.

"Raph?" I said.

"What?" he said not taking his eyes off of his comic.

"I…uh….." I said shifting my gaze between the handprint on my arm and Raph. "I'm going to the bathroom," I said and ran to our closet.

"That's not the bathroom genius," Raph said still not looking up at me.

"Whoops. Thanks, bro," I said grabbing one of my long-sleeved shirts and ran out of the room to the bathroom. After closing the door, I took off my short-sleeved shirt and starred at my reflection with those two hand marks on my arms. I've got three older brothers, of course, I'm going to get marks and bruises on my body; especially when Raph keeps hitting me for whatever reason he can think of. But most of those don't bother me as much as these two did. Then I remembered the letter I had found.

'…_shaking Carter violently and that handprint on his arms.' _

Did she do the same thing to baby Carter that she did to me? If she did, then that's just wrong; hurting a little baby like that. Then, I put my grey longed-sleeved shirt on not wanting to keep seeing myself like that.

**A little shorter then I wanted, but this took me forever to write for some reason. I was going to put an important event that is happening in the next chapter with this one, but I really didn't want anything to be rushed. So I'll save that for next time and post what I have so you guys don't have to wait. **

**I hope you enjoyed and I really appreciate all those who are still sticking with me. Don't be shy to leave a review of any kind.**

** Until next time, **

** LaurenHardy13**


	8. Chapter 8

**Mikey**

Somehow, I managed to use my super awesome ninja skills to hide those fading marks on my wrists from Raph; and totally not at all because I've been wearing sweatshirts for the past two days. Raph wouldn't care if I told him anyway. He would just tell me it was my own stupid fault for making her mad, but it's not _all_ her fault she's mad. She's just really upset that her husband left without saying goodbye and that's why she hasn't been the nicest. I just need to find out what will make her happy. I was bored so I decided to sit in the attic where all the exercise stuff was. I really don't know why Raph spends all his time up here when it's really small and the only thing up here is a punching dummy that wobbled around and a few ten-pound weights. I brought my sketchbook with me and some pencils and started to sketch. Raph meanwhile was doing push-ups on the floor.

"I wonder what Donnie and Leo are doing right now," I said out loud.

"Who cares?! Fearless is probably having the time of his life with his _new_ family right now. And you know what? I really couldn't care less. We can get along fine with just the three of us," Raph said.

"You always say that. But it won't be just the three of us…or two of us for long. Mr. Saki's gonna come back and get us," I said.

"Look, don't get your hopes up too high about this kid. Anything can still happen," Raph said.

"But Leo said-"

"FORGET WHAT HE SAID!" Raph shouted and stopped at the top of a push up to look at me. "Face it Mikey, nothing ever works out exactly as we want it. You're better off just accepting that before you get hurt, cause I'm not gonna be the one holding you while you cry and get snot all over my shirt!" Then he went back to doing his pushups. I sighed and looked at the sketch I had been working on. It was short portraits of Me, Raph, and Ms. Mary together on the same page. Afterward, I turned to the very first page of my journal and lightly touched the photo I taped of all four of us at the park smiling; even Raph who had his arm around Leo.

"You'll see Raph. Mr. Saki really _does_ want all of us! I know it!" I said.

**Break*Break*Break*Break*Break**

**Later that same day,**

"Raphael, Michelangelo, come in here please," Mary called from the living room. I got up, but Raph kept eating his apple.

"Come on Raph, she wants us in the kitchen," I said.

"So?" he said with a mouthful of apple.

"Well, we wanna make her happy right?" I asked.

"Not really," he said.

"But she took us in and…..she's probably been under a lot of stress lately with her paintings and...… I _really _don't think we should make her mad," I said while pulling the sleeve of my jacket down. Thankfully Raph didn't notice.

"Yeah, is _that _why she makes us do everything around here and keeps talkin' about us being nothing but extra mouths; all because she's just _a little bit_ stressed out?!" Raph snapped with his voice rising.

"Uh….maybe?" I said and gave off a big smile.

"Raphael! Michelangelo! Get in here now!" Ms. Mary screamed again and I got goosebumps. Oh man, she sounded really mad! Quickly, I ran into the living room leaving Raph behind and noticed Ms. Mary straightening up the living room a little.

'_See Raph, we don't do _everything_,' _I thought.

"There you are. Quick, fix those pillows," she said while she threw away some cans that were on the table in a trash bag.

"Aw, man! I hate cleaning," I whined.

"You seemed pretty eager to clean up that soda the other day that _she _spilled," Raph said coming in and glaring at her.

"Didn't mean that I liked it," I said.

"Nevermind that. I'm having some _friends _over tonight for a quick meeting and then we're all going out afterward. We'll be talking about serious stuff and you two need to stay upstairs. Don't come down for any reason at all, understand me?" she asked.

"But what if I get hungry?" I asked.

"You'll be fine Michelangelo. I'm sure you can go a few hours without eating food. That's all you ever seem to do around here," she told me.

"I know but I'm a growing boy," I answered back.

"Maybe while you're upstairs, you can think of other _helpful _things you're useful at," she continued.

"Great idea!" I said.

"Who exactly are these people and why do we have to be so secretive?" Raph asked.

"Let's just say they're important business partners of mine and we've got to make some important plans for something happening tonight. They can't know you're here or something….bad might happen. I don't care what you do, but you can't make any noise."

"No problemo Ms. Mary. I can totally rock the ninja quiet thing," I said.

"Yeah right," Raph said.

"Good boy. And if you're really good, then the next time we're at the store, I'll pick up a pizza kit for you to make for us," she said and my eyes got wide.

"Yes! Did you hear that Raph? Someone actually wants to try my cooking!" I cheered.

"Congrats, you want a metal or somthin'?" Raph asked.

"Yeah," I mumbled and daydreamed about a bright shiny metal that said 'Someone tried my cooking and liked it!' Ms. Mary was hugging me tightly while holding a slice of pepperoni. Raph meanwhile was in the background trying to get a slice of his own for himself. Fireworks were going off in the background as Ms. Mary kissed my cheek and I smiled.

"Yo! Earth to Mikey!" Raph said bringing me back.

"Huh?" I said.

"I told you to go wash the dishes for me," Ms. Mary asked.

"Oh yeah! I can do that easy!" I said running into the kitchen.

**Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break**

**Raph**

"Raphael, you can start sweeping up the area around the door," she told me.

"Why? Why should I start cleaning _your _house because someone's comin' over here that we're not allowed to see?" I asked.

"These people are very important to me and could lead us down a better path; which could mean more money for our family in the future," Mary explained.

"Oh, so we're a _family_ now? Funny thing is that Mikey's been tryin' to figure out exactly what that word means for a long time, and I can tell ya that you don't cut it," I snapped. Mary dropped the trash bag to the floor and slowly turned her 'evil' gaze at me.

"I don't have time for your attitude Raphael," she said.

"Oh, am I'm givin' ya an attitude on somthin' that's true?! Ya know, based on the past few days, all we seem to be to you is just two extra mouths to feed who just so happen to give you a quick five-hundred bucks for keepin' a roof over our heads."

"I'm trying alright?! I'm sorry it's not the perfect lifestyle, but what do you expect?! We live on the Lower East Side of Manhattan where most of the poor people or non-Americans live! These people are the key to how we can get some extra cash and get out of this dump! I'm tired of being stuck here barely making ends meet and all our money comes from your stupid paintings Reed! Maybe things would go a lot smoother if you'd actually help out around here instead of…!"

"Hold it! First off, the name's Raphael, not Reed! And second, '_my' _paintings?! What the hell are you talkin' about?! Mikey's the creative one, not me! And I'm done with all this paint talk! 'Don't go into the paint room,' 'don't disturb me when I'm working,' my paintings are the only way we can get food for two extra mouths.' So quit blaming all this on me!" I screamed at the top of my lungs almost as loud as my fights with Leo. Suddenly, she held up a hand getting ready to smack me.

"Go 'head. I dare ya!" I said, but she just closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and put her hand down.

"I don't want to see your face for the rest of the night!" she growled.

"Yeah? Well, feelings mutual!" I screamed and stormed off towards the kitchen and past Mikey who had been eavesdropping. I'm not sure if he said anything to me or if I lashed out on him, but I didn't care. I just kept walking towards the stairs and up to the attic where the equipment was, just about ready to explode any second now. I walked right up to the punching dummy and started hitting it with everything I had. This is why I always loved the punching bag; because I could hit it as hard as I could to get my anger under control without doing serious harm to anyone; especially to Mikey who seemed to always be there I was angry or after a fight with Leo.

'_Dammit, Mikey! I'm not going to last here much longer.' _

**Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break**

Hours later after I was cooled off, I came downstairs and peeked into our bedroom to check on Mikey. There he was sketching in his book again. I often had arguments with myself whether or not I should throw that damn book in the trash. It does more harm than good, but it also gives him something to hope for. The problem is that it almost does too good of a job. He ends up letting his guard down and sooner or later, it comes back to bite him. I just wish his head wasn't always in the clouds, but it's not his fault that he's so hyper and impulsive; that's just his ADHD. I squeezed my lips together before walking past the bedroom and was now standing at the top of the stairs.

'Screw it!' I tell myself and as quiet as a mouse, snuck down the first flight of steps. There was a wall instead of a railing on the steps so I could get a closer look from the little platform in between the two flights. I crouched down like a crab and leaned in as far so I could partly see the entrance to the kitchen. There were a bunch of mostly guys and teens hanging around carrying various objects like pipes and knives. Almost all the ones I saw had some kind of purple tattoo somewhere on their body.

"…I can't believe you three got your butts kicked by some old man," I heard Mary say and a few guys chuckled.

"We were mugging a kid, not the old man. How were we supposed to know he had a friend nearby who knew Kung Fu?" another answered.

"It was ninjutsu you idiot!" another said. Suddenly, I heard the front door slam open and everyone got quiet and turned to whoever just came in.

"Alright, what's so important that you had to drag me all the way out here Mary? I've got things to do so make it quick," a deep voice said. I tried to see if I could get a glimpse of him, but whoever he was just stayed by the door in the living room where I couldn't see.

"I managed to 'dig up a little info' while I was selling some of my paintings that I thought you'd been interested in Dragon Face; especially since the Fourth of July is coming up next week and all and everyone is having these huge _electronic_ sales," she said.

"I'm all ears Doll. Just remember that we Purple Dragons don't like to have our time wasted or getting caught by the cops," the deep voice said.

"You won't be disappointed, I promise," Mary said. Purple Dragons? Never heard of them. I rolled my eyes and then slowly crept back upstairs to the bedroom. Mikey was still drawing in his bed and I leaned against the wall sighing in boredom.

"You know what Mikey? Mary told us that we're supposed to stay up here all night and play the 'we don't exist' game right?" I asked and Mikey nodded not taking his eyes off his sketch. "Well how about we take what she said one step further." I walked over to the window that led to the fire escape and opened the window. "You up for a little game of 'rooftop follow the leader'; and since I'm the oldest, I'm it first," I said and jumped out the window. Mikey's face lit up like a light bulb and he followed me outside leaving the book behind. Then I ran up to the roof of the apartment with Mikey right behind me.

"Alright kid. Make sure you keep up," I said and ran off the apartment building and landing on the house next door with Mikey close behind. Every once in awhile, I did a flip or went up a really high wall making it as challenging as possible for Mikey. The sun had just recently set and the city lights were starting to turn on. I always preferred our nightly runs over the daytime runs anyway. I kept going for about a half-hour or so jumping off buildings or running through some alleyways.

"When is it _my _turn?" Mikey asked.

"When I say it is," I said and kept running. I did a long jump over a building and then waited for Mikey to catch up. He jumped after me and I grabbed his hand to help him up on the roof.

"Okay, is it _my _turn yet?" he asked.

"Nope. Game's over," I said smiling.

"What?! No fair!" Mikey whined.

"Relax, ya dork. Haven't you even figured out where exactly we are yet?" I asked. Mikey stopped and looked around. It didn't take long for him to look around at the familiar surroundings. Then he gasped.

"We're back at Ms. Adams! Donnie!" Mikey said and was about to jump down on the fire escape when I grabbed the hoodie he was wearing and pulled him back.

"Hold it genius! You wanna let all of Jersey know we're here?"

"Yes! Then everyone can know that 'The Mikester' has returned!" he said.

"That'll have to be another time bro. We're here to see Donnie," I said and jumped down to the fire escape platform. When we got to Donnie's window, the blinds were closed as per usual, but there was a light on inside. I softly tapped the glass and waited for the blinds to open.

Nothing happened.

This time, I knocked on the window still softly, but a little louder. After a minute, the blinds started to move and were suddenly rolled up. Standing there wearing an old Yankees shirt was Don. As soon as we made eye contact, Donnie jumped backward and I could hear his little gasp all the way from outside. Then he smiled at us with the biggest grin I'd ever seen.

"DONNIE!" Mikey shouted at the top of his lungs and I covered his mouth while Donnie froze. Meanwhile, I looked around to make sure no one was staring at a couple of kids hanging out on the fire escape. When I turned back to Donnie, he breathed a sigh in relief and slowly opened the window just after I smacked Mikey's cheek still covering his mouth. He pointed up to the roof and then started to climb up the roof as did Mikey and I. When we all finally got up there, I wrapped my arm around Donnie's shoulders.

"How's it goin' kid?" I asked.

"As well as it can be. Man, I've really missed you guys," Donnie said.

"Me too D," Mikey said. "How's the DS doing? Are you keeping her warm at night and charged up? Is she lonely without someone constantly playing on her or has someone tried to beat the Mikester in how long they can possibly stay on it? Has Mr. Saki come back yet? Did he say when he was gonna adopt us? How's Ms. Scott doing?"

"Whoa whoa, slow down Mikey, geez!" Donnie said and then took a big inhale. "The DS is doing fine, yes I have kept it charged, no one's beat your record yet, and no on Mr. Saki. I was actually thinking about sending a letter to Leo but just never got the chance to. So now it's my turn, how the new foster home?"

"Great! We live in the Lower East Side with a lady named Ms. Mary. She's super nice and she loves to paint and even lets us go to Market Street by ourselves!" Mikey said but the entire time, Donnie was looking at me instead of Mikey.

"It's not the best, but it'll do for right now. Just hang in there for a little while okay Don? I'm workin' on a plan," I said.

"I'll be fine. I've got a project I'm working on right now to keep me busy until Mr. Saki comes," he said.

"Oooo! What is it, what is it?" Mikey asked.

"Uh…..top secret," Donnie said.

"Awww, come on D. Is it a pizza gun that shoots out free pizza?"

"No."

Before we even knew it, we had talked and played 'catch up' for a good forty-five minutes on the roof; just the three of us.

"I wish Leo was here too," Don said.

"Me too," Mikey said but I didn't say anything back. "When you send him a letter, can you tell him I said hi? And don't forget to ask him when Mr. Saki will come back for us."

"I will. I'm sorry guys, but I better get back before 'lights out,' and someone finds me missing" Don said.

"Awww," Mikey whined.

"You know where I live right now," he said standing back up. "I'm sure Raph will let you come back to visit again."

"Yes!" Mikey cheered. Then all three of us embraced real quick before Donnie waved goodbye and went down the fire escape back into his room.

"Guess we should head back," I said.

"And _I'm _it this time!"

**Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break**

**1:00 AM **

"WAHOO!" someone screamed and I jumped out of bed startled. I got into a fighting position and waited for someone to start throwing punches.

Nothing happened and my eyes focused on the scene before me. I was back in the room with the light off and a cool breeze blowing from outside. Then everything came back to me. After we came back from our little visit, I guess I must have fallen asleep from boredom. Then I looked over at Mikey's bed which was empty except for his bear.

_Wait…empty?! Where the hell did he go?! _

Now I was wide awake and speed-walked out of the room to check the bathroom; empty. Then I went upstairs to the attic but he wasn't there either.

'_Okay, Mike. Seriously, where are you?' _

I ignored the 'don't exist' rule and ran downstairs right into the kitchen. Mary was there holding a bunch of dollar bills and letting off the biggest smile I'd ever seen from her.

"Oh, hi Raphael. I thought you would be sleeping. I just got home and everything went great tonight! Look at how much cash I got from them!" she said showing the bills she had but I wasn't paying attention. I was looking around the kitchen for any sign a certain twelve-year-old. "I can't believe I'm finally a dragon now! This is going to be a new start for all of us," she said looking at some tattoo on her arm.

'_Fan-frickin'-tastic' _I thought not paying any mind to the tattoo and then ran into the living room. The whole living room was a disaster with a few bags and jewelry sitting on the table, but no Mikey.

"Mikey?!" I called out but was rewarded back with silence again. Now I felt my heart start to race and began to breathe heavily. Quickly, I ran back upstairs to our bedroom and squeezed my head with my hands.

'_Kid, I swear!' _I thought as I ran to the closet and still saw our bags that I had packed still there. _'Okay, he didn't run away! Why would he run away?!' _I thought and then felt a cold shiver on my neck. I turned around and for the first time noticed that the window was opened.

"You have got to be kidding," I mumbled and then climbed out the window and up the fire escape again. There, lying down on the roof fast asleep was Mikey. "I'm an idiot," I whispered and then walked over to Mikey. He would always go up to the roof when he was deep in thought about something; most of the time about the whole family thing.

"Mikey, wake up," I said shaking him but he just kept snoring. "Come on kid, I wanna go back to bed."

"…yes please mom," he mumbled in his sleep.

"Wake up!" I screamed but Mikey still wouldn't move. I growled and then just picked him up and carried him back into the room myself.

"You are so gonna get it later kid-" I said tossing him on his bed and then suddenly saw something on his wrist. Part of his sweatshirt sleeve had rolled up a little and I saw something brown on his skin. I walked over and started to roll up his sleeve when Mikey's eyes shot open and he yanked his arm away from me.

"Ah! What are you doing Raph?!" he asked when he was fully awake.

"Mikey, take off your sweatshirt," I ordered glaring at him.

**Oh crap! Raph found out! How is Raph going to react seeing those marks on Mikey's arm? **

**Tune in next time and don't forget to review please! **

**Happy Holidays!**

**LaurenHardy13 **


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: Bla Bla, I don't own TMNT so let's get on with it. **

**Michelangelo **

"Mikey, take off your jacket," Raph ordered and I froze.

"W-why?" I mumbled. Raph then stood up glaring at me.

"Do it! Now!" he ordered.

"I-I don't want to," I said and jumped out of the bed heading for the door, but Raph ran over and blocked my way.

"I wasn't askin' ya kid!" he growled and I shivered at his tone.

"N-no! You're not the boss of me!" I snapped. Raph then let out a growl behind clenched teeth and then grabbed me with a deathlock. "Get offa me Raph!" I said fighting back with everything I had, but Raph was way stronger then I could ever be. Then he tried to yank my sweatshirt over my head.

"No!" I shouted trying to pull my sweatshirt back down, but he managed to yank it off with little trouble and tossed it to the ground. Then he pushed me away from him. I stumbled for only a moment before I caught my balance and put my arms behind my back right away. But Raph's face was already horrified and was starting to turn completely red. He kept glaring at me with vengeance in his eyes and then he stormed out of the room.

"Raph! Wait! It's a lot better now then what it was before! Come back!" I yelled chasing after him. Lucky for me, I was the fastest brother and managed to get past Raph and block his way into the kitchen. I stood in front of him with my arms out trying to be brave as I looked deep into his blood-thirsty green eyes.

"You gotta listen to me Raph! It wasn't her fault. Please, just let me explain," I begged but Raph pushed me aside and went into the kitchen. Ms. Mary stood in front of the stove placing a frying pan over one of the burners.

"Hey! You and me are havin' some words! What the hell did you do to my brotha?" Raph snapped and I held my knuckles up to my mouth.

'_Not the accent, not the accent!'_ I thought.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she said not even looking at us.

"Oh, you don't?! So those hand-marks on his arms just randomly appeared?!" he continued pointing at me. "Let's get one thing, straight lady! _No one _messes with my little brother 'cept me! Ya got that?!"

"He needed to be taught a lesson! If you two think you can just get away with breaking the rules then you have another thing coming," Mary said.

"I'LL SHOW _YOU_ WHO NEEDS TO BE TAUGHT A LESSON!" Raph screamed and I ran in front of him.

"Raph, it's okay! It was an accident! I went into the paint room without asking and she hit me for not listening, but it's okay! It's not her fault that she's so stressed," I said and then turned around to face Ms. Mary. "I know what happened with your husband. He didn't die; he took your son and left New York forever right? He didn't like that you were hanging out with some gang all the time. You miss him and your son and just want a real family again which is why you took us in. We can help you-"

"You don't know anything about me!" she shouted.

"It's okay, it's okay!" I said holding up my hands. "Let's just take a deep breath and-"

"Ugh! SHUT UP! I've had it with you! Can't you give me five minutes where you're not talking or moving around?! Is thatreally so hard?!" she shouted and picked up the frying pan. I stared at the pan with wide-eyes as my bottom lip started to quiver.

"I…I'm sorry," I whimpered.

"YOU'RE STILL TALKING! I think I need to fix that right now!" she said and came forward towards us. Raph then grabbed me and pushed me behind him.

"You stay the hell away from him!" Raph said holding one arm behind him to keep me back.

"Shut. The f***. UP!" she said and held up the frying pan high above our heads. Before I could process what was happening, Raph tackled me to the ground and I screamed in response. My eyes had somehow closed by themselves before we reached the ground and I heard a loud 'bang' followed by someone grunting in pain.

Slowly I opened my eyes and saw Raph lying over me holding the right side of his face. Or was it his left? No, I was definitely his right side when I looked at him. Afterward, he took his hand away from his face and I gasped. Raph was now bleeding on the right side of his face a little, and a large area around his eye was beginning to swell I think. Raph looked at some of the blood that had fallen on his hand before he slowly stood up to face Ms. Mary who still held the pan in her hand. He stared at her very cross and I could practically see the steam coming from his nose as he exhaled loudly.

Then out of the blue, Raph turned around, picked me up, and ran back upstairs.

"Get back here! Raphael, do you hear me?! GET BACK HERE NOW!" she called out to us but Raph didn't stop or turn back around. He carried me all the way back to our room before slamming the door shut with his foot and put me down. By this point, tears had already started rolling down my face and I was shaking.

"Raph, are you okay?" I whimpered through a horse voice.

"Peachy," he said and ran for the closet.

"Raph….she…she hit you."

"Yeah, and it hurts like hell. Now come on, we gotta go," he said tossing me my orange bag.

"Go? Go where?" I asked.

"We're gettin' out of here," he said now running around the room stuffing random stuff in his own red backpack.

"What?! But we can't leave," I said.

"Look, here's the deal kid. I ain't staying here with _her _anymore, and I ain't leaving _you_ here alone with her. So you can either run with me or I can drag you out," Raph continued zipping up the bag and going over to the window to open it.

"But what about Mr. Sa-"

"LOOK AT ME MIKEY!" Raph screamed pointing to the blood on his face. "Is _this _what having a family means?! HUH?! Is this what you always dreamed of?! Cause if it is, then I want nothin' to do with it!" I stared at the drying blood still on Raph's face and the light blackness that was starting to form around his eye. Slowly, I shook my head as more tears rolled down my face staring at the floor. Then Raph came over and lifted my chin up to look at him.

"We have to go," he said gently and I nodded. I quickly wiped away my tears and put on my bookbag. Suddenly, we heard the hardwood creaking from outside the closed door. The door slammed open and Mary stood there with a belt.

"Move!" Raph said pushing me towards the window. I put one leg outside when I happened to look back at my bed. My bear was lying against my pillow looking at me.

"Wait!" I said and jumped back into the room past Raph before he could grab me.

"MIKEY!" Raph yelled but I just ran to my bed and picked up my bear. Then I tried to run back to the window, but Ms. Mary ran forward and blocked my way.

"You've had this coming," she said and held up the belt. My feet all of a sudden became super-glued to the ground and all I could do was stare with wide-eyes at the silver buckle as it started coming down.

"NOOOO!" Raph yelled and pushed Ms. Mary hard away from me. She stumbled against the wall and somehow hit her head against the edge of one of the shelves hanging up on the wall. Suddenly, Ms. Mary went down like a ton of bricks to the ground; unmoving.

Time now stood still and I couldn't breathe. My mouth was wide as I pictured in my mind exactly what Raph had just done. Then, something red started dripping down from her forehead to the floor and was starting to stain up the carpet. Her eyes were closed and she lay as still as a…..oh my gosh.

'_Raph…Raph just killed someone; all because of me.' _

Raph meanwhile stared at her unconscious body with little sympathy for what felt like an eternity. Still, she didn't show any signs of life or that she was still breathing. I squeezed my bear with chattering teeth not being able to look away from the still scene.

"Is…is s-she dead?" I asked which brought Raph out of his state before looking back at me.

"I….…c-come on Mikey," he said grabbing my arm and dragging me towards the window. Raph practically pushed me out of our room and onto the fire escape as I was finally forced to look away. "Go!" he shouted and I ran down the fire escape stairs with him right behind me. When I made it to the ground, I looked back up at the only open window with the light turned on in the middle of the night. Still, there seemed to be no movement in that room. Then Raph ran down and jumped off the latter to the ground next to me. After I quickly put my bear into my pack where he'd be safe, Raph and I ran into one of the alleys without looking back.

**Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break**

**Donatello **

"Donnie? Donnie, wake up," someone said shaking me. My eyes flew open and Sophie was standing over me. "Why are you asleep on the desk?"

"Sophie, what are you doing up so early?" I said sleepily as I rubbed my eyes.

"It's almost breakfast time," she said.

"Wait, what?!" I shouted and looked over at the clock.

9:02 am

"Crap!" I said and shot up out of the chair.

"Donnie said a cuss word!" Sophie yelled.

"That's technically not really a cuss word Sophie. I've heard way worse in school," I said quickly running a comb through my hair while I put on my shoes.

"Like what?" she asked.

"Like…..uh….never mind. Tell Ms. Adams I'll be back later," I said grabbing Raph's knife and my phone before running out the door. I was supposed to go for my normal run and then wait at the park for him to show up. That's the only other place I've seen him. I just hope he's there and that he didn't go home yet. I only saw him in the early morning.

"Please still be there, please still be there," I mumbled to myself. When I arrived, I ran through the park once but didn't find the Japanese man anywhere. I caught my breath and then started to speed walk the same way I came. It was starting to get crowded and more people were sitting on benches or tables, but none of them where who I was looking for. I'm such an idiot. I was so focused on that flowchart that I forgot to set the alarm. _And _I forgot to take a picture of the flowchart to study before I went up and talked to him; if I found him. Then I stopped walking when I was coming up by the boat rentals and stamped my foot.

"Dammit!" I cursed. Raph would have my hide if he heard me but he did it all the time and was only a year older. Then I looked up and there he was! He sat at a table looking out into the water at families who were boating in the water; still full of grief of some kind.

'_Okay, Donnie. Now's your chance. Just go up there and ask him exactly why he saved you,' _I said taking baby-steps over to where he sat. _'You can do this. Just take a deep breath and try to remember as many scenarios as you can from the chart. You've got Raph's knife if tries to hurt you and remember some of the karate classes you took after-school.' _Then I stopped where I was only a few feet away from him. _'I can't do this! I'm already sweating. What did the chart say to do if I was sweating bullets? Aw, I can't do it! Just turn around and maybe we can try this another time. Yeah, just put one foot in front of the other and walk away.' _

"Are you going to just stand there or are you going to have a seat?" the Japanese man said and I nearly jumped out of my shoes.

"O-oh…right," I said and then took a seat across from the man. I had a bad feeling he could see me shaking. Yeah, I really wasn't good at talking to others, but never this bad.

"Well?" he asked.

"Well…..what?" I said.

"You've been searching for me, haven't you? Is there something you need?" he asked.

"Uh…yeah kinda," I said rubbing the back of my neck.

'_Okay, here goes.' _I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before facing him again.

"I want…answers. You have no idea who I am, and _I_ don't know who _you _are. So why did you save me from those muggers yesterday?" I let out feeling my heart race.

"I see. First, can you tell me your name?" he said.

"My name is Donatello Laird, but you can call me Donatello or just Donnie or Don…"

"Very well Donatello. My name is Hamato Yoshi. Now tell me, did you know who those muggers were?" he asked.

"No," I responded.

"And were they bothering you?"

"Of course they were bothering me! They pulled a knife on me!" I yelled.

"Did you _want _them to pull a knife on you?"

"No! What kind of question is that?!"

"The question that will help answer your own. You say you did not want those muggers there and that they were bothering you. I only helped you get away from them," he said.

"But why?!" I demanded as I slammed my hand hard on the table. The table slightly shifted but Mr. Yoshi didn't seem fazed.

"I believe I already gave you that answer after I saved you," Mr. Yoshi said.

"But there has to be more than just _'why not'_! You followed me all the way from the park and then saved my life from a bunch of muggers. No one in this city just follows a random kid and then saves them; not unless they want something in return."

"I only followed you to make sure you got home safely. You were troubled by something that day and sometimes when we are angered, we tend to act irrationally. I was impressed that you tried to use meditation to calm yourself; even if you weren't quite doing it correctly. Regardless, I still wanted to make sure you made it home to your family and not do anything you would regret," he said and my face slowly dropped.

"Yeah, I guess, and also, thank you for saving me."

"You're welcome," he said back. Then it turned into that awkward silence between us. To be honest, what else could I say to him? "Is that all?" he asked.

"Uh….I don't know. I don't mean to be awkward or anything, but this really wasn't how I thought this was going to go," I said.

"Really? Just out of curiosity, what _were _you expecting to happen?"

"Well…..would you believe me if I told you I have a big flipchart that illustrates just about every possibility you might have told me in my room?" I asked and the Japanese man laughed a little.

"Were you _that _worried about this? Did you think I would hurt you if you just asked?"

"No?" I said letting off the phoniest smile I'd ever done.

"Let me show you something Donatello," Mr. Yoshi said and reached into his pocket. He pulled out some kind of throwing-star and placed it on the table. It was all black and in the middle was some kind of symbol that kinda reminded me of a flower.

"Whoa," I mumbled admiring the artifact.

"Do you see this?" he asked pointing to the symbol right in the middle. I nodded. "This is the symbol of my family; the Hamato Clan. For generations, this clan has mastered the ancient technique of ninjutsu and passed it on to the next of their kin. One of the first rules of being a ninja is to do no harm…unless you intend to do harm. Then you do lots of it! But the Hamatos have always been an honorable clan who never seeks to harm unless it is called for; such as saving an innocent child from a couple of thugs. It is no different for me Donatello." Suddenly a lightbulb switched on on top of my head.

"You only did what any other person would do who has the honor in them to help. I don't think that was on my flipchart," I said.

"You seem like a very smart one Donatello, but you can't overthink every possibility that might happen. Focus on the now and just do what you think you should do without thinking," he told me.

"But then how will I be prepared for every possible scenario that comes up?" I asked.

"You can't. You just…do it," he said.

"Maybe," I said and my phone started to vibrate. I quickly took it out of my pocket and saw the text message.

_Ms. Adams: Need you home asap._

'_Aw really?'_ I thought and sighed.

"Sorry Mr. Yoshi, but I'm needed back home," I said standing back up. "Oh, and are you alright Mr. Yoshi? For some reason, I can't shake the feeling that something's bothering you. Is there something _I _can do to help?" I asked. Suddenly his face dropped.

"No Donatello. There is nothing you are able to do now. You needn't worry yourself," he said and he picked up his face acting like I hadn't noticed.

"If you say so," I said. "Hope to see you again soon Mr. Yoshi."

"I have been coming here every morning since I arrived in this city to calm the mind and soul. You're more than welcome to join me if you want," he said.

"Maybe I will. I usually go for a run or something like that in the morning anyway," I responded.

"Very well. Until we meet again Donatello," he said standing up and then bowed to me.

"Goodbye Mr. Yoshi, and thanks again," I said bowing back to him and then started walking back to Ms. Adams' with a big smile on my face.

When I got back, I took off my shoes and started to head upstairs when I heard Ms. Adams call me from her office.

"What is…?" I said but my speech was cut off by two police officers in full uniform standing in the office.

"Don, I'm afraid something's happened to Raph and Mikey," Ms. Adams told me.

"What happened?!" I demanded.

"Apparently, your older brother assaulted his foster mother early this morning and then kidnapped Michelangelo," one of the officers said.

**Well? What do you guys think? I've been waiting to write this chapter for a long time and now it's finally here. Also, I know a few of you have been asking about a Leo chapter. All I can say is that he's coming soon. Just hang in there for a little bit longer and I promise there will be a whole Leo chapter in the near future. **

**Thanks and I hope you enjoyed. **

**Review**

**LaurenHardy13**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: Still don't own TMNT**

"_Apparently, Raphael assaulted his foster mother early this morning and kidnapped Michelangelo," the policeman said. _

"He what?!" I asked.

"Your brother assaulted someone so bad that she was put in a hospital!" the other officer snapped. "Then he kidnapped Michelangelo."

"He…..no.…..that can't be right," I stuttered. I looked at Ms. Adams completely lost for words. Raph hurt someone? I mean he hits me and Mikey all the time and don't even get me started on what he does with Leo, but to hurt his foster mother?

"Why don't you take a seat and we can discuss this," the first, dark-skinned officer said. Slowly, I took baby steps over to one of the chairs in front of Ms. Adam's desk. "Okay, my name is Officer Roads and that's my partner officer Means," he said pointing to the white, bigger officer holding out a notepad. "We just wanna ask you some questions."

"So do I! What happened to Raph and Mikey?!" I demanded.

"We received a call early this mornin' at around four from Raphael and Michelangelo's current foster parent. She, around 1 am, discovered that Raphael had snuck out of the house. She decided to wait up for him and see where exactly he had gone. When he did come back and asked him where he had been, he started yellin' at her and even attacked her." Officer Roads explained.

"W-what do you mean by 'he _attacked_ her'?" I asked gripping the arms of the chair.

"Meaning that he pushed her to the ground, and then pinned her there yelling insults like 'she couldn't tell him what to do,' or how 'he could do whatever he wanted.' Somehow, she got up but then Raphael pushed her against a shelf hanging on the wall that broke."

"Then he picked up the shelf and started hittin' her with it so hard that she fell unconscious. That's called 2nd-degree assault there, kiddo," Officer Means said looking at me. I said wanting so badly to roll my eyes. "Also, since you're here, I've got a little question for ya. What were your whereabouts last night?" he continued asking.

"My _whereabouts_? I was here working on a project for most of the day. What does it matter what _I_ was doing?" I said.

"What kind of project?" he asked ignoring my question

"Er…just a personal project of mine; a flowchart," I said.

"It's true officers. He's been working on that for a few days now," Ms. Adams explained.

"You mean that weird bulletin board thing with all those random pictures?" Means asked and my eyes went wide.

"How did you….wait, you were in my room?!" I yelled.

"I apologize son, but your brother is now a wanted criminal on the 2nd-degree assault by hitting his foster mother with a weapon and a possible kidnapping of Michelangelo. We had to search the house on 'probable cause' because this is the only lead we have on where he might go. I know this is hard for you, but did your brother happen to come here last night?"

'_Shoot! Okay, Don. Just be calm and don't take your eyes away from his. Just imagine he's Mikey whose just came up with another one of his experimental dishes and asked me if I liked it.' _

"No sir, I haven't," I say.

"Really? Let me ask you smart guy. You already know that assault is a crime. But did you also know that helping someone who's committed a crime escape from the police or hiding them is also a serious crime that could just land you in NYJH? You know; the juvenile hall? So do you wanna run that by me again what you said?" asked Officer Means. This time I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, I know that aiding and abetting is also a serious crime and I still haven't seen them," I said feeling my heart skip a beat inside my chest trying to glare at him without giving up my lie.

"I don't like your attitude boy," he said.

"Relax Bennett. There was nothing in the house that indicated he was here. We gotta get the APB out on the two and try to get them off the street before someone worse finds them. Ma'am, I know he was in your care for most of his life, but if you happen to see either of them, don't talk to them and call us." All Ms. Adams did was nod her head, and place her fists on her forehead and lean over her desk.

" Apologies for disturbin' you," Officer Roads said tipping his cap. He was about to leave the office with his partner and I took a step forward.

"There's gotta be a misunderstanding. Raph doesn't attack random people because he feels like it; not without a good reason," I say.

"Are you sure about that? Ms. Adams here tells me that Raphael has had some anger issues in the past," he asked.

"Well….yeah…but…." I started but for some reason couldn't find the right words to say.

"See? This is why I ain't plannin' on havin' any kids. Cause they'll eventually turn into moody little teenagers. Ma'am, you have a nice day," Officer Means said and the two left. When we heard the door close, I saw Ms. Adams still hadn't moved from leaning over her desk.

"I don't believe this," she said.

"Neither do I. It just doesn't make any sense! You know how Raph is. He doesn't mean to lose his temper, it just happens," I say.

"I know Don. I don't know what to say right now," She said.

"And how can he be charged with a possible kidnapping of Mikey?! Mikey's our brother!" I said starting to pace back and forth.

"I realize that Donnie, but remember that Raph isn't the one who has legal custody of Mikey; their foster mother is. I know it doesn't seem like kidnapping but technically it is since the last time anyone saw Mikey was when Raph ran away after whatever happened in there. So there's a high chance he's with him."

"I know that's where Mikey is. This whole thing is just….." I said stopping and then squeezing my head with my hands. I heard Ms. Adam's office chair groan and then heard footsteps as she came over and touched my shoulder.

"This is gonna be tough on all of us Don; not just you. All we can do is pray the police find them and maybe we can sort out what happened from Raph's point of view. But just be warned that it's not looking good since they ran off," she said.

"That's another thing. Why did Raph run off with Mikey? Did Mikey willingly run off with him? Remember how many times Raph said he was going to run off and leave us behind? Sometimes he did, but he always came back within a few hours after he cooled off. There are so many questions I have," I said.

"Okay, let's relax a little while this all sinks in before you overexcite yourself. And you can also tell me why you ran off this morning without breakfast. You know the rules," she said and I nodded.

"I'm sorry, but I overslept for my run and I just couldn't miss it," I explained and then I smiled. "I found him again Ms. Adams. I found the man who saved me."

**Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break**

**Raphael**

We ran for hours without stopping. We went through so many alleys and backways and even go lost a few times, and you call yourself a resident of NYC. But all that mattered was getting Mikey out of there before someone saw us. It was around one in the afternoon when Mikey finally got on my last nerve.

"Raph…" he said weakly. I turned around and saw him lying on the ground reaching his arm out towards me. "Raph…can't…..go on. Dying…..of hunger," he said and I heard his stomach grumble on cue.

"I just gave you an apple," I said.

"Fruit doesn't do anything for a person; no matter how good it is. But you know what does?" he asked.

"Let me guess. Pizza?" I said rolling my eyes.

"Pizza," Mikey moaned now lying on his side rubbing his stomach. "Can we _please _take a break? Just for a few minutes?"

"No, we gotta keep moving," I said.

"Where exactly are we goin' anyway?" he asked and I was caught off guard.

"Uh….we….we're heading upstate," I blurt out.

"We're leaving the city? Aww, but I like it here," he said.

"What other choice do we have numbnuts?!" I snapped and his face dropped at my tone. _Goddammit, kid. _"Fine! We can rest here, but _only _for a bit," I said.

"Yes!" he cheered and took off his backpack before opening it. He pulled out his bear and sat it next to him. "OH NO!" he screamed scaring the hell out of me.

"WHAT?!" I shouted.

"I forgot my book! We gotta go back for it!" he said standing back up about to run.

"No way! We're never goin' back there ever again!" I said holding his arm as he tried to run.

"But we gotta! That's our families!" he said.

"Your _imaginary_ families. None of those cutouts or pictures are real families," I said.

"Yes, they are! They wanna adopt us and take us home and love us! They just don't know it yet!" he shouted fighting to escape my grip.

"SHUT UP MIKEY!" I said letting my backpack fall to the ground while I still held on to Mikey. "If I let you have the stupid thing, will you shut the hell up?" I said pulling out the sketchbook in my backpack using my other hand.

"You grabbed it!" he yelled and took the book from me. "Thanks, Raph!" he said hugging it.

"Don't mention it; _ever_!" I warned and then started looking around where we decided to stop. It looked like your average abandoned ally shaped like an L that led to another block over, but what I _really_ liked was the there was a large dumpster towards the back. It covered us from one side, and the building on the side covered us from the other since it wasn't all the way towards the back. It was perfect for now. "Alright, Mikey. I'm gonna go try and find us some real food so we can save the apples and bananas for emergencies. You stay behind the dumpster and make sure no one takes our spot."

"Mikey," I said when I didn't get an answer. Said brother, was looking through the book again. "Hey! Earth-to-Mikey! Focus!" I said walking over. That's when I caught a glimpse of what Mikey was looking at. "What the hell is that?!" I demanded, pointing to the hand-drawn sketch of what looked like us and _her_.

"It's Ms. Mar-"

"Oh hell no! Give me that damn book!" I said snatching the book back

"Hey! Give it back!" he yelled. Meanwhile, I was flipping through a few pages from right to left. There were a few good four or five sketches of _her _doing things like painting, hugging us, and other stuff all with a big smile on her face. Then without thinking, I started ripping out the pages with _her _on them.

"NO! STOP!" he said trying to take the book back but I just kept ripping the pages and using my body to keep him off me.

"You said this was a book full of families. She ain't our family and she never will be!" I said. When I got to the last page that Mikey was originally looking at, I thrust it back into Mikey's arms. "Draw something else!" I ordered and started to storm away when I stopped to face him again. "Look, just make sure no one takes our spot by the dumpster. I'll be back with some food; hopefully." I told him again.

"Eww! It stinks!" he whined.

"Well get used to it!" I said and walked out of the ally after I put my hood up to avoid being seen.

**Break*Break*Break*Break*Break**

**Two hours later**

It was around 4 pm when I made my way back to our ally. I only found a few scraps of food from looking through some trashcans, but it wasn't a lot. I guess I'll have to keep my eyes open. When I got back, it was quiet; a rare thing. But it was also a work-night and rush-hour was just about to start.

Then I heard someone sniffling and crying. Something in me made me run into the alley and I stopped dead in my tracks at what I saw. All through the alley were crumpled up pieces of paper and some cut-out newspaper clippings, and in the center was Mikey sobbing and hyperventilating next to the dumpster where I left him. "Mikey?! What happened?!" I yelled and ran over to him. I put my arms on his shoulders and he looked up at me. His eyes were shot red.

"Raph!" he wined and then launched at me sobbing. "I'M SORRY! I'm sorry Raph!" I put my arms around his body that was shaking so badly.

"What happened?! Was somebody here?! Did they hurt you?!" I demanded thinking of every possible worst-case scenario.

"I'M SORRY! It's all my fault! All my fault!" he continued sobbing.

"Mikey shhhhhh, it's okay! I'm back now! But you gotta tell me what happened," I said holding him. That's when I saw thrown in the corner was that book of his; but then my attention was directed at all the paper and magazine clippings on the floor.

'_Oh Mikey,' _I thought hugging him tighter as he sobbed.

After his cries were reduced to heavy breathing and hiccups, I let him go and held onto his shoulders.

"Did someone attack you?!" I demanded and he shook his head.

"No. (Hic)"

"Tell me, little brother!" I pleaded, cupping his cheeks and wiping away the tears.

"I…I'm sorry Raphie," he whimpered.

"Why do you keep sayin' that?" I asked.

"Because…because it's all my fault," he said raising his voice through another sob.

"What is?!"

"Everything!" he shrieked and pushed me away. "It's my fault we all got separated! My fault that we still don't have a forever home! I wanted one so bad and I made you all want one too! But I wanted one with _all _of us in it! So I made you all say 'no' to so many good families; all just so you guys could make me happy. Then Leo thought that we had to split up to better our chances of getting one! And then Donnie….." Mikey sobbed again. "I WISH I NEVER STARTED THAT STUPID BOOK!"

"Shhhh," I said looking around to make sure no one heard us. All I could do for him was put my arms around him again holding him tight. Exactly how long I stayed there? I couldn't say. But I didn't care. I didn't loosen my grip until he was trying to take deep breaths to calm himself down.

"You're right. You shouldn't have made that damn book and getting your hopes up like that. But it's not _all _your fault," I said.

"It's not my fault?" he whimpered looking at me again.

"Oh, I didn't say _that_. Most of it was definitely your fault. You're the one who made that book and spend hours on it which got your hopes up. Even after I made an effort to pack it in the backpack and then you went ahead and ripped it all up."

"Oh," Mikey said and his expression dropped again.

"But it's the stupid state's fault for splitting us up and not finding someone willing to take on four teenagers quicker; not yours. We wanted this new family as much as you did. Did you see Fearless's face when Mr. Saki came and said he was willing to take all four of us? And here I thought Donnie was the one with a dorky smile," I said and I heard Mikey chuckle briefly. Then I faced Mikey and put my hands on his shoulders.

"Mikey, you didn't make us say 'no' to those families. They just weren't the ones for us. Remember what Leo's always saying about how no brother gets left behind?" I asked.

"Whoa, you're quoting _Leo _now?" he asked in awe.

"Don't get used to it kid. But seriously, you didn't convince us about having a new family Mikey. The right family just hasn't found us yet." Mikey looked up at me and nodded his head slowly. "Come on," I said and sat him back down against the end of the dumpster where he was before. With that, I reached into my bag and pulled out two bananas that I had stolen from the apartment and gave one to Mikey.

"Raph?" he said after taking a bite of his banana.

"What?" I said with a mouth full as well.

"I decided that I don't want a new family anymore," he said and I raised an eyebrow.

"Huh?"

"I'll never complain or ask about having a new family ever again. I just want it to go back to just the four of us again," he said.

"You know what? How about when the search for us dies down a little, we'll go get Donnie and Leo, and then run upstate or somewhere. We'll find a nice abandon house in the woods and live there. _That_ can be our forever home," I said.

"Will I get my own room?" Mikey asked.

"I'll leave all the creative stuff to you little brother," I said.

"All right! I get to have my own master bedroom and then you, Leo, and Donnie, all have to sleep in the shed outside-ow!" he whined as I smacked his head.

"Keep dreamin' short stuff," I said and then patted the area immediately next to me after Mikey had finished eating his banana and threw his peal across the ally. He scooted closer to me and I let his head rest on my chest with my arm around him as he held his bear

"I can't wait," he mumbled closing his eyes with a big smile on his face again.

When his body grew heavy on me, I smiled down on him and kept watch over our alley. No one was going to get near my brother; no one.

**So? What do you think? Donnie's part was kind of boring I think, but he found Yoshi again last chapter and I'm really looking forward to writing his chapters. Also, to all my Leo fans out there, just hang in there and I swear he'll get his own chapter soon. It may not be right away, but it'll happen. I promise. **


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT**

**Raph**

I was the first one up, and the sky was dim with the sun already setting. I looked over and saw Mikey was sleeping peacefully still on my chest. "Mikey? Come on bro, get up," I said shaking him. All he did was moan. "Come on kid, we gotta get movin'," I continued.

"Too early to go to movies'," he mumbled, making me roll my eyes.

"Wake up you ding dong, before I leave you here all alone in the dark with the monsters who eat twelve-year-old little boys," I said.

"No!" he whined, and his eyes shot open. "Raph!" he complained, and then he took a good look around the alley. Suddenly, his face dropped.

"Guess we're still out here huh?" he asked.

"Sorry to disappoint bro," I said, standing up and stretching my aching body.

"Raph! You're hurt!" Mikey screamed.

"Shush!" I hissed.

"But your eye!" Mikey said. Oh right. I guess that's why I could only really see out of one eye. I went over and opened the dumpster. Sitting right on top of the pile was a steel bowl with a crack in it. I looked at my reflection and saw my left eye was completely swelled shut with black skin surrounding it.

"Not bad!" I commented, examining my shiner closely.

"What do you mean not bad?! We gotta go tell someone!" Mikey said.

"And who do you suggest we tell? Remember, the cops are gonna come lookin' for us when they find out we're missing," I reminded him.

"Oh. Are…are you gonna go to jail because of…" Mikey whimpered, and my lips went thin.

"I don't know kid. Maybe," I said, and Mikey squeezed his bear tighter. "But Mikey…you gotta know that I….I didn't….Look, you know that I'd never do somthin' like that to you right?"

Mikey didn't say anything.

'_Shi*, no!' _That's when I kneeled next to him again grabbing both his shoulders.

"Mikey. She was gonna hurt you again and I…..I didn't want that to happen," I said. "I wasn't tryin' to…_you know_…. but I saw her with the belt, and I just lost control. Then, before I knew what I was doin', I'd already done it. Trust me, Mike, I'd never do that to anyone unless they really piss me off, but you…I'll never do that to you," I continued hesitantly.

"So…does this mean you'll stop hitting me when I make you mad?!" he asked, perking up.

"Hell no! You always find a way to push my buttons," I said.

"Happy to be of service!" he said, and now he stood up with me. "So, when's dinner?"

"We gotta be more sparing with food so let's get some distance first, and then we can try and go dumpster diving or somthin'."

"Fine," Mikey whined, and I went over and put my bag on. Mikey meanwhile went over to his sketchbook and picked it up.

"Thought you said you were done with families besides ours," I asked.

"I am, but I still gotta figure out what our new house is gonna be like, and what I'll put in my master suite," he said. With that, he put his bear and sketchbook in his bag. Meanwhile, I went back to the open dumpster I had left open and did a quick search inside. Most of what was inside were trash bags that stunk, and other random stuff like the broken steel bowl. Then, in the corner, I saw something shiny. Quickly, I grabbed it and pulled it out.

"Aw right!" I said. It was one of those pocket knives that you could get at any souvenir shop with your name engraved on it. This one in particular had the name 'Celia' engraved on it.

"What!" Mikey said, running over while holding his bag.

"This baby will come in handy," I said, showing him the knife. "A little dull, but I can fix that later." Afterward, I put 'Celia' in my pocket and closed the dumpster not seeing anything useful. Then I turned my attention to Mikey again.

"Lemme see yer arms," I said before he put his bag on. Surprisingly, Mikey took off his sweater without hesitation. There still was bruising and those damn handprint marks on his wrist, but it didn't look as red as it had before. "Not too bad yerself kid. Alright, put your sweatshirt back on," I ordered.

"Awww. Why can't I leave it off? That way everyone will see just how tough I am; like you," he said, flexing his muscles only to flinch due to his injuries.

"Hey, _you _were the one who decided to keep that sweatshirt on the past few days," I reminded.

"That was just to hide them from you! And how come _you _get to go around showing off your black eye, but I can't show my marks?" he asked.

"A: you ever hide something like that from me again and I'll beat the skin off ya, and B: I'm older."

"That's a dumb reason," he said, and I held up my fist causing him to squeal and jump backward.

"Let's go," I said and zipped up my sweatshirt and putting up my hood. Mikey did the same and then looked back one last time at the scattered drawings and torn up magazine clippings.

"Sorry families, but we're not up for adoption anymore. Ms. Adams has some great kids who still need homes though," he said sadly. With that, he put up his hood, and we were off again.

**Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break**

We made it to the South Bronx where we saw all kinds of homeless people hanging around fires and talking to each other. There were also a few people looking at us funny with hands in their pockets. "Stay close," I whispered, grabbing Mikey's hand with my left while keeping my right hand in my pocket holding 'Celia'. I wanted to cut through an alleyway out of sight, but that was suicide here. Then we came into an area where a dark car with tinted windows was parked. It looked abandoned, but there was definitely some movement going on inside, and the smell was terrible.

'_Crap,' _I thought, glancing at Mikey. Leaving no choice, Mikey and I cut through one of the alleyways. We stopped right at the entryway, and I did a quick scan of the area before pulling Mikey along with a slightly faster pace. All of a sudden, I heard a door open.

"Get yer ass back in here Arnold Casey…!" I heard someone shout from inside before the back door slam shut. Quickly, I pulled Mikey into the shadows covering Mikey's mouth. I saw a kid around my age walk out with dark, long hair that came down to his shoulders. He walked down the steps of his house before kicking some kind of can across the ally. Then he picked up an empty trash can and tossed it across the alley as well making a loud noise.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed in frustration.

'_Been there, done that,' _I thought. The teen then went over to the corner of his house and climbed in through a broken window. When he came back out, he had a golf bag full of equipment wearing a white hockey mask. He pulled out a hockey stick and started running towards the other end of the alley. As soon as he was gone, I uncovered Mikey's mouth, and we came out of the shadows.

"He was almost as angry as _you _get Raph," he said.

"Yeah, no kidding. Let's get outta here," I said, and we finally walked out of the alley.

"Phew! I didn't like it back there…" Mikey started, and suddenly we heard a woman scream nearby.

"Someone's in trouble!" Mikey said.

"Not our problem," I said, trying to pull Mikey down the street again.

"But we can't just walk away! You'd come to save me if _I _was in trouble!" he said.

"Well duh!" I said.

"Then we gotta go save her!" Mikey said, and he ran off to where the screaming was coming from.

"Mi-KEY!" I yelled, and ran after him pulling out 'Celia'. We ran into another alley and instead of seeing a woman in trouble, we saw a bunch of guys on the ground with the same teen around my age, beating up two young kids around seventeen with a hockey stick. A woman was cowering in fear in the corner motionless. Already, they were starting to bleed.

"Whoa! Dude, settle down. You got 'um," I said.

"Who died and made you referee punk? Stay out of my business!" the teen said and continued beating the two kids.

"Okay! We give up!" one of the kids said, but the teen wouldn't back down. Mikey just stood there completely in shock at what was happening. With that, I went over and pushed him off the two kids.

"I said KNOCK IT OFF!" I shouted. Meanwhile, the two kids got back up and limped/ran away.

"Great! You let them get away! Looks like you'll have to take the penalty of attending 'Class is Pain 101'; with your instructor Casey Jones. But by the look of your eye, it looks like you've already attended and failed out. That's okay, I can re-teach you," he said, now aiming the hockey stick at me.

"Look! What you did was uncalled for. You stopped them from harmin' that lady and they were on the ground," I said.

"Yeah? You supportin' the dragons? Well, that makes you one of them. So what happens if I just let you punks go, huh? You gonna go steal another purse or set another innocent man's shop on fire like you did with my old man's?! You ain't gettin' away from Casey Jones this time!"

"I'm not trying to fight you," I said.

"Well _I _am!" he said, and used his hockey stick to trip me up and I fell to the ground. Then he jumped on top of me, and we started wrestling with each other.

"AHHHH!" the lady screamed, grabbed her purse, and ran away.

"RAPH!" Mikey screamed.

"Oh, that's a new low tryin' to recruit a young kid like him into your group. Go home kid before it's too late," the teen said to Mikey while we continued wrestling.

"But I don't got a home," he said.

"Mikey, hush!" I snapped and managed to kick the teen off me before I got up again. "Yer really startin' to tick me off, dude."

"Good. Then maybe you'll make like a tree and get out of my way," the teen said, swinging the stick at me. Luckily, I caught it and pulled it out of his grip. Then I turned the hockey stick on him while he pulled out a baseball bat. "Don't you know you never touch an athlete's equipment? What are you crazy?"

"Don't call me crazy bub," I said through clenched teeth as we circled each other.

"Oh sorry. I didn't mean to say that. I meant to call you something else, but since there's a kid here, I'll stick to another appropriate word; a freak," he said.

"FREAK?!" I shouted, throwing the stick on the ground and pulled out 'Celia'.

"It's about time things started gettin' interesting," the teen said. I flicked out 'Celia's' blade and took a swing at him but missed. Then the teen had an opening and swung the bat at me, knocking me to the ground. "Yeah! Home run for Casey Jones!" he shouted. Then before I could think, I wrapped my arms around his legs, bringing him to the ground using his balance. I then jumped on top of him and held up 'Celia' getting ready to stab him. The teen screamed, and before I made the next move, I noticed in a window Mikey's terrified reflection looking at me.

"Wait, what am I doing?" I asked myself as my head started to clear up, and I started to sweat. Then I got off the teen. "We're on the same side dude."

"You know, you're right," the teen said, getting back up. He put his bat back into his bag and then went over to pick up the hockey stick had thrown. "Thanks, dude. You've shown me the error of my ways," he said. Suddenly, he whacked me with the stick that hit my cheek near my black eye.

"Ah!" I groaned holding my cheek. That's when the teen started running away.

"I can't believe you fell for that! Catch you later bozo!"

"Yeah…that's right! Run away, you coward!" I screamed back at him. Then I turned back to Mikey who didn't look as terrified. "Y-you alright kid," I asked.

"Uh-huh," he said. "You?"

"That kid didn't even faze me," I responded, still holding my sore cheek. "What do ya say we get out of this joint and go dumpster diving for dinner?" I asked.

"Yes!" he cheered, and the last bit of fear disappeared from his face.

Good.

**Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break**

**Donnie**

For once in my life, I actually beat my alarm clock that morning. I had woken up an hour and a half ago and was too excited to go back to sleep. I got up, got dressed, ate a quick apple, and was out the door. I had run through the little park that was in front of Ms. Adam's place. Not as big a central park, but still big enough to get a good mile run in. That was the park we always had our Fourth of July picnic. We didn't have it in Central Park because it was always too packed. Just before dusk, Ms. Adam's would take us into town to an old friend of hers who owned a skyscraper near where the fireworks would go off.

Anyway, I did my mile and then jogged my way over to Central Park. I just crossed over the bridge and didn't see Mr. Yoshi where he normally sat but then I saw him near the shore, kneeling and staring at his reflection. He didn't move or make a sound.

'_Maybe I should do another lap before coming back. He did invite me to…' _

Suddenly he turned and looked at me as if he somehow sensed my presents. "Donatello! Come sit," he said, cheerfully patting the area next to him. I smiled and ran over to join him. "I wasn't sure you would come and sit with me so early; especially with you being on summer break, correct?" he asked.

"That's right. I normally get up early with my…uh…I normally get up before the rest of my family does to go for a run. It's just something I like to do by myself," I lied.

"I see," he said. This was when I got a good look at Mr. Yoshi. He had dark circles under his eyes, and I saw his face was a little wet. Yes, he could have splashed his face with water, but it looked like something else; like he had been crying for some reason. I decided to change the subject.

"So what are you doing kneeling here, Mr. Yoshi?" I asked.

"Two things; meditation and remembering," he said.

"Oh, I didn't mean to interrupt your meditation. I can leave if you want!" I said.

"No, there is no need for that," he said before I had a chance to stand up. "I am taking in the peacefulness before too many people come here."

"Are you sure you don't want me to come back?" I asked again.

"Yes Donatello, you are welcome here with me," he assured me.

"Did you say you were also remembering?" I asked.

"Yes, I'm sure you have already figured out that I am not from this country," he said.

"You did say yesterday that you've been coming here since you came to the city, but I still had a suspicion," I said, and he gave a soft smile.

"I am originally from Japan. I arrived here a month ago for a change of scenery. Japan holds many memories for me, but I wanted to make more away from it," he explained.

"Is it just you?" I asked, and his eyes closed and bowed his head.

"Yes."

'_Shoot! Don't make it uncomfortable for him already!' _I thought.

"D-do you think you could tell me about Japan? What was it like? Where you still part of the Hamato clan like you told me?" Suddenly his sadness disappeared in a flash.

"Yes, of course. Japan was a beautiful place. I was born to a great man and Master; Hamato Yuuta. He taught me everything I know and the importance of Bushido," he explained.

"Bushido?" I asked. This was more of Leo's realm than mine.

"Yes. It means 'the way of the warrior' and the duty to have integrity and honor."

"Wow! How did you move to a new country all by yourself?" I asked.

"It was hard, and in a way, I'm still struggling. I had to leave my home, my clan, and everything I once knew behind."

"Do you ever miss it? The life you once had I mean?" I asked. Mr. Yoshi bowed his head and stared at his reflection again.

"Every day," he told me. "But I cannot return there now."

"I'm sorry. If you ever need anything, you can talk to me if you want. I pretty much know most of the city inside and out," I offered.

"Thank you, Donatello. I must admit, I have not been able to explore the city much since my arrival."

"I could show you! Like I said, I know all the good spots in the city and a few of the neighborhoods that aren't very good. But I suppose you can take care of yourself the way you defended me against those thugs," I told him, and he gave me a chuckle. "Have you been to Liberty Island yet?" I asked.

"No."

"We could go together sometime! Well, only if you want to, but you have to see the statue up close at least once; especially if you're living here now." I said excitedly. I'm almost as giddy as Mikey normally is.

"I would be honored; especially since you're the second person who has ever talked to me in this country."

"Second?"

"On my way here, I made the acquaintance of a man also from Japan. He just spent every last dollar he owned on the journey here, and a building near where I currently live." He hopes to turn it into his own restaurant one day."

"Cool. Tell him if he needs any help, I could always stop by. I'm pretty good with using tools," I admitted.

"I will," he said. I hope he didn't mind because Mr. Yoshi and I continued talking and learning about each other for an hour and a half. He told me more about Japan, his family's dojo, and even some important codes of the ninja. Leo would have loved listening to his stories and maybe even Raph. Before we knew it, more people were out and about. Then my phone started to buzz.

Ms. Adams: Breakfast in a half hour.

"Sorry Mr. Yoshi, but my mom needs me home for breakfast," I said, feeling the tingling in my skull due to the lie. I mean it wasn't a total lie.

"Very well. I must return home as well," he said standing up.

"Alright. Goodbye Mr. Yoshi," I said.

"Farewell Donatello. Will I see you again tomorrow?" he asked.

"Yeah, if you don't mind. I really enjoyed my time with you."

"As did I," he said, bowing to me and I did it back to him. "Until tomorrow."

"Until tomorrow."

**Sweet! Now we got Casey involved too and before you ask, April will also be involved. I don't think you can make a TMNT series without April. It's possible, but you have a bunch of angry fans to deal with. Until next time,**

**Review**

**LaurenHardy13 **


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Turtles if you didn't already know.**

**Enjoy!**

**Donnie **

I arrived back at the house just in time to help set up breakfast.

"Perfect timing Don. Can you start making the twin's plates and getting the Orange juice out please?" Ms. Adams asked me.

"Sure," I said and pulled out the plates and cups from the cabinets.

"Thanks. Did you go and see Mr. Hamato again today?" she asked.

"Yeah. He was telling me how he just came from Japan, and his father was even a master of a ninja clan! Leo would have loved talking with him," I said, and I went silent for a moment. "Has there been anything from Leo or Mr. Saki?" I asked.

"Not yet. Leo's not in my care anymore so I'm not allowed to do or know anything about him, but you might. You could call Mr. Saki or sent him an email," she suggested.

"Yeah, I've been thinking about sending Leo a letter or something today," I said. "What about Raph and Mikey?"

"Still missing. I heard on the news this morning that Raph and Mikey's foster mother was released from the hospital last night though."

"Did they say how badly she was hurt?" I asked, beginning to pour the juice into the cups.

"They just showed a picture of her face with a big bump on her forehead, but not much else."

"Oh," I said.

"But anyway. Today I was thinking if the weather holds up, that we could all head over to Brooklyn Bridge Park; just to get out of the house for a bit. You up for that?" she asked, and I just shrugged my shoulders.

"I think I'll pass," I said.

"Why?"

"I just….I don't feel like doing anything." I said, but Ms. Adams just looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, then you shouldn't have gone out to visit Mr. Hamato this morning if you didn't feel like doing anything. I know it's been a rough few days, but I refuse to let you be miserable for the rest of your summer Donatello Laird!"

"Fine," I said emotionless and rolling my eyes.

"Thank you. And for that sass, you'll have to help look after the younger children while we are there," she said grinning. I sighed and brought the filled cups into the dining room.

"Breakfast time! Everybody up and at um!" Ms. Adams shouted. Then, loud stomps were heard as the twins and our two other companions ran down the steps like animals. I guess this is how Leo felt when he was the oldest one here.

**Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break**

**Mikey**

"I think we're lost," I said, eating a Granola Bar.

"We're not lost. We just need to find a map so we can start planning our way out of the city without attracting too much attention," Raph said.

"So…lost," I said.

"It's not _my _fault! We can't just start walkin' down Rockefeller," he said.

"Why not? At least we'll figure out where we are easier," I said. Raph then started knocking his knuckles on my head hard.

"Why do you think, moron? Rockefeller means tourists, and tourists mean more police! Remember, we gotta lay low," he said.

"Oh. Right," I said, trying to block out Ms. Mary's dead body on the ground. We kept walking down different alleyways and trying to avoid the ones with people sitting in them. All of a sudden, we heard thunder in the sky.

"Uh oh," I said grabbing Raph's arm.

"A storm's not gonna kill ya kid," he said.

"No, but the thunder and lightning might," I said, staring at the sky.

"Get over it! We gotta keep movin'," Raph said, dragging me across another back way through a neighborhood. Suddenly, another flash and the sound of thunder occurred scaring the heck out of me.

"AHHHH!" I screamed like a girl.

"SHUSH!" Raph shrieked, covering my mouth.

"Don't blame me! It's the stupid thunder and lightning's fault for scaring me," I whispered after he took his hand off my mouth.

"You're such a wimp," he muttered.

"Am not!" I yelled. Then, we heard another sound, but it wasn't thunder. This one was a lot softer.

"_Meow…" _something cried.

'A cat?' I thought.

"Let's go, Mike," Raph said.

"Wait a minute," I said, and started searching the alleyway for the cat. I looked through the tossed boxes and even in the sewer drain; still no cat. Then, another flash happened, and I braced myself for the 'boom', covering my ears. It was just a little 'boom' this time, but the cat started to cry again. I followed the cries until I saw a little orange tail behind an old trashcan. I took a closer look and saw a small, orange kitten with his belly, paws, and part of his face white. "Awwwwww. Raph, I found a kitten," I said. Raph came over to join me as I held out my hand towards the little guy. The poor kitty was thin and filthy.

"Yeah, that's a kitten alright," Raph said. "Let's go, Mikey."

"Come on little guy. Come to Uncle Mikey," I said, still holding out my hand. The cat attempted to come out but was startled back by more thunder. "Awww, he's scared of the storm. That's one thing you have in common with 'The Mikester' little guy. I hate storms! Cause they're loud and scary, and I can't ride my skateboard," I commented. "Come on! You can be scared _with_ me."

"Mikey!" Raph yelled louder.

"Hang on, I trying to make the kitty come out," I said.

"Forget the cat! He's not comin' with us," he said.

"But he's scared, and he'll get all wet!"

"Not my problem. Besides, he's filthy, and we got enough things to worry about."

"I can take care of him! Or her! I can give him his baths, and look for food for him, and change his newspapers. Pleeeeeeeeeaaaaaaasssseeeeee? Did I mention that you're my hero and favorite brother?" I asked, bringing out the baby blues.

"Yes, Mikey, you have; every time you want somethin' stupid," Raph said.

"This isn't stupid! This is a matter of kitty life and death! You can't be responsible for killing off one of this kitty's lives," I said. Raph crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.

"Yeah? Well, he's got eight more lives to work with! Move it!" he said, and grabbed my arm, pulling me away.

"Raph!" I whined, and then looked back at the kitten. "Sorry little guy. But you can have part of my granola bar to distract you for a little while!" I broke off a small piece of my bar and tossed it towards where the kitten was hiding. With that, we were off in another direction of the city.

**Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break**

"Oh crap!" Raph said, freezing.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Few things. I finally know where we are, but we're in East Harlem," he said. I could see his eyes start to scan every inch of the area we were in.

"Okay? Isn't that great though? Now we can find a map better," I said.

"Mikey! East Harlem's kinda gotten dangerous over the last few years; especially at night! We gotta get out of here!" he said, but then it started to drizzle on us.

"Raph, can't we find somewhere to hide just until the storm goes away?" I asked when I suddenly saw a huge lightning bolt flash across the sky. I covered my ears just before the 'BOOM' was heard.

"No! Not here!" Raph snapped, and then his eyes went wide. "Okay, okay. Umm….," he said. His eyes seemed like they were bouncing off every building and then looked back at me. "We…we can't take the alleyways here. We'll have to try and find a map somewhere else in the open. Put your hood up," he said, putting my hood over my head and squeezing the strings as tight as they would go.

"Why do we even need a map anyway? We live here," I asked, as Raph put _his_ hood up.

"I told you, it's to make our plan of getting out of here easier without being spotted by the cops. We still gotta spring Donnie out of Ms. Adams's place," Raph said.

"Won't Ms. Adams be worried?" I asked. Ms. Adams was sometimes strict, but she still cared about all of us. "It's not fair for her to worry when all of us go missing,"

"I know, but it's the only way we can all stay together. She'll have to get over it," he said. "Maybe you can send her a postcard or letter when we get upstate or something. Let's go, and try to keep your head down as much as you can when we're out in the open."

Raph and I ran into the open for the first time as the rain continued to pick up with most people scrambling for cover, or putting up their umbrellas. In no time at all, both of us were completely soaked.

"RAPH!" I yelled over the sound of the rain hitting the ground hard. We could barely see where we were going anymore. He looked back at me and then we saw an old boarded up Movie Theater.

"That's gonna have to do for now. Come on!" he said, and we both ran over to it. The big letters saying the name of the theater had since been taken down, but we could still see that it was once been called 'Seascape Theater.' The doors had been boarded up as were most of the windows. Raph and I ran over to the side and saw a window not boarded up, that had once been broken.

"Perfect. Okay, I'm gonna lift you up, and I just want you to take a quick peek inside for anyone in there," Raph told me. I nodded, and he cupped his hands for me to climb on. When I caught my balance, he boasted me up to the window. Inside was mostly dark, but I could make out a snack counter and where the front door was. All of a sudden, we heard an ambulance and some police sirens heading our way.

"Dammit! Go in! Go in! Be careful of the glass!" he ordered and boasted me up as high as he could go. I climbed inside and jumped down into the darkness. I looked up at the window and waited for Raph. But nothing happened. The sirens got closer and closer until I heard them right outside the theater. I covered my ears and squeezed my eyes shut while shivering. Whether it was from the cold or not, I couldn't tell you. A few moments went by and the sirens were gone, but Raph still hadn't come in after me.

"Raph?" I whispered.

No answer

That's when I got butterflies in my chest and stared into the darkness. My eyes went wide, and my breathing became heavy.

"R-Raph," I whimpered.

Still nothing

Then it felt like the room was enclosing on me. I was all by myself now with no home and no family.

BOOM

"Raph!" I screamed and heard someone land behind me. I turned around and saw Raph standing their dripping water everywhere.

"You alright little brother?" he asked, putting his hand on my shoulder. I took a deep breath and nodded my head. "Alright. Take your jacket off so you won't freeze to death," he ordered, as he did the same and pulled out 'Celia'.

"Are you trying to teach me Kung Fu or something? You keep asking me to put my jacket on and off," I asked.

"I ain't askin' ya to do anything. I'm telling ya, so you don't catch pneumonia on me. The last thing I need is to drag your sick butt everywhere. I got enough to carry around."

"You think this place will have any popcorn around?" I asked.

"Doubtful," Raph answered.

"That's okay. I can just eat the candy," I said cheerfully, and Raph just groaned.

"Don't get too comfy here kiddo. As soon as the rain lets up a little, we're out of here."

"Yeah, yeah," I said, dropping my bag near the window and pulling out my sketchbook.

"Hey, Mike? You mind if I borrow a piece of paper from your book?" Raph asked.

"Are you gonna draw our new house too?" I asked.

"Hell no. That's _your _job. I'm gonna write down the stuff around Chelsea so we can start preparing to get Donnie," he explained.

"Is Leo still in Chelsea too?" I asked.

"How should I know?"

"Then how are we going to get Leo?"

"Mikey, right now, my only concern is getting you and Donnie outta here. As soon as we get upstate and have a place, I'll come back down here to spring Leo. Okay?"

"Okay," I mumbled and started to draw to try and get my mind off of things.

Won't Mr. Saki be sad if we take Leo though? Will he be worried about us too?

**Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break**

**Back to Donnie**

It had poured all morning and well into the afternoon. I was stuck inside trying to figure out what to write to Leo. It finally stopped raining around two o'clock and turned into a clear, sunny day.

"Ms. Adams! Ms. Adams! Can we go now?! It stopped raining," I heard Hannah ask.

"Ooh, it has! Alright everyone, let's get ourselves together and I can start packing a bag for us. Remember, if you wanna bring it, you have to carry it," Ms. Adams reminded everyone. I rolled my eyes as I waited for the inevitable question.

"…5…4…3…2…"

"Don, I need your help getting ready," she told me.

'_Well, not exactly a question, but it still meant the same thing I was thinking she'd ask.' _

"Fine," I grunted.

"Come on Don. Cheer up!" she said. I put my pencil down and walked past her without saying a word. We got the first-aid/ diaper/snack bag packed up as well as got all the kids sun-screened up. I also grabbed my notebook and Raph's knife and headed for the mini-van with Jake and the twins.

"Did everyone go to the bathroom?" I asked.

"Uh-huh!" Sophie said.

"I did!" Stella said.

"Jakey did too!" Jake said.

"No you didn't Jake; you're still in a diaper," I said. I first went over to start the car to turn the air on, and then strapped Jake into his car seat while the twins got in their booster seat.

"Donnie, can we do the bingo game?" Stella asked. I got a folder out that was sticking out of the seat organizer thing, and handed it to the girls. Inside were laminated bingo cards and dry-erase markers. On the card were things that we might see on the way to wherever we were going, like firetrucks or a red car. That goodness Ms. Adams invented that game, or I might have gone crazy long ago with Mikey and the others' never-ending questions or the 'are we there yets.' When I got Jake strapped in, Ms. Adams came out with Hannah and put the bag in the trunk. With that, I got in the front with Ms. Adams, and we were off. I toned out everyone, and just stared out the window as we drove through southern Manhattan.

Twenty minutes later, we were coming up on the Manhattan Bridge. Crossing the Manhattan Bridge was a lot less crowded then crossing the Brooklyn, and we also didn't have to worry about stupid bikers cutting us off. While we were sitting at a light, I looked up and saw two people talking to each other in front of a boarded-up building. One man was older than the other, and also had a walking cane for the blind. I looked at the other man and I gasped.

The other man was Mr. Yoshi! He had a notebook in his hand and was writing something down that the other man was saying. I let off a smile without realizing it as I continued to watch the two. Just as the light turned green, Mr. Yoshi just happened to look over at us and saw me. He gave off a light smile and waved at me. _My _smile grew wider and waved back at him just as we drove away.

**Not too bad of a chapter huh? What do you guys think? Let me know. **

**LaurenHardy13 **


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